davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14
Fish For Widows.

One hundred of the largest and most tender herrings Is the annuity offer to all the widows residing within the confines of the town of Pembroke, a small Massachusetts village. It Is time honored customed, and its origin Is beyond recall of the oldest inha bi- tants memory. The weirs are town property. John Le Farge Is in charge of the fishing, and he sees to 1t that every householder gets all the herring he Is entitled to, always remembering that no widow is overlooked on the extra 100.
 allowed to come to the weirs and catch 200 herrings, for which he pays fifty cents. But any of the widows of the town may have their 200 fish at that rate and in addition 100 fish are given to them free, according to the old custom.
 residents rush to the brook where the fishing Is done. Oftentimes as many as twenty-five or thirty are waiting
 The brook bears the name of Barker Stream, after a family which settled there in the early part of the seven teenth century, within stones throw of the weirs. Barker stream. or brook as 1t has been called in later years, flows into the North River at Marsh field boundary, but the place where the old homestead used to stand Is the only one in its entire length where fishing is permitted From 10000 to 60 ,OOO herring are taken from the brook every year. but the only fish hv inc householders who do not care to take their share. These are sold to merchants. the revenue going 10 the town treasury.
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14
Some "Reminiscences of. James
 DeLlef Pioneer Statesn7an

thwaite a foeman worthy of his steel. Neither asked or gave quarters. Twas with them, No hold up. McDu6. but Damned be he who first cries Hold, enoughw" MT. Del1et was elected; Judge Goldthwaife retired in defeat. but h@d made a noble light.
 It was during this canvass that Wiley Cater. who was quite wag and hu- morist. played a practical joke, One John e. BarneA was an ardent sup- porter of MT. Dellet and assumed to represent him and plan the campaign. While Messrs. Dellet and Goldtnwatte were debating in the upper part of the district. Barnes received letter from Mfr. Dellet tas he thought but written " cater), telling him to get up . bar bscue and give publicity. inviting tho public, etc tnat the race was classs and election doubtful; that Barnes must spare no labor or. expense to make t . success.
 Barnes gladly followed instructions. prepared for the barbecue on a grand scale, sent runners and posters to ad- yerfise. Mir. DeIlet came home to find. greatly to his surprise. such elaborate preparation for his reception. But he could not go back on his friend Barness and accepted the condition gracefully and paid the heavy bills incurred. Luck fly, he was a man of large property. Whether ne forgaye Cater was not re vealed, But as to the incident: Some of Mir Deiiet's constituents thought he was pursuing the wrong course on a question of policy in Congress. and got up a set of resolutions. virtually tn- structing him how to vote. A com mittee was appointed to present them. Mir. Dellet received the delegation po- litely, but informed them firmly that he did not recognize the right Of a caucus or conclave to dictate to him what he should approve or reject; thet he got his commission and instructions from the voters at the ballot box. Mir. Dellet thought this a representative government and would. if alive. not advocate the initiative and referendum plan Of some theorists and so-calied statesmen. He would. doubtless. think we had too many elections already.
 Selma, Dec. 10, 1909.
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14

papers and country papers. The Alabama prohlbitlonists have their own way of ex- plaining to themselves and their brethren Tn the other commonwealths this array of tho state press against their Qate) constitutional amendment: "the money of the rummfes,
 they say. our Mobile contemporary thinks that about two of every three Republican voters who went to the polls last week voted against the proposed amendment, as did tsay) 57.000 Democratic voters; some 5O,000 Democratic voters voted for 1t.
 We have spoken' of the very conspicuous part taken in this Alabama campaign by the ministers and the women 9f their congrega- tions. Az q rule, the Roman Catholic par ish priests. the Protestant Episcopal rectors and the Jewish rabbis kept out of 1t, we are gentlemen who did. The Anti-Saioon League nowadays very powerful organization down southis very largely offssersa and ma and Presbyterian preachers good deal was said by anti-prohibition men on the stump ana in print & ,dqpinE ns AeDama snna intimidating) in state affairs; the newspaper comments on that aspect of the situation continue. Colonel Watterson. we notice. lB greatly exercised in mind by 1t, and is using Language in his Courier-Journal that does not err the side of gentleness. Ever since Tennessee succumbed to the militant proht- bitionists. the colonel has been convinced that Kentucky's ordeal is merely question of time. j. s... .s-s. 4N
 Although the people of Alabama refused last week to put the making of selling of liquor under the ban of their organic law. q prohibitory statute. as rigorous as the legal advisers of the Anti-Saioon League could make 1t. stili stands upon their statute book. We see that the states most influential jour nals--The Montgomery Advertiser and The Mobile Register--are earnestly counselling them not only to quiet down now and put the hard words and hard feelings of the cam paign behind them. but also to be law-abid- ing citizens in act and temper The result does not mean n defiance of existing law in Alabama; very probably the contest as set tied will bring about a greater determination on the Dart of the leading people on both sides to frown down any defiance of the law says The Montgomery Journal. "The laws are still what they were, the machinery for enforcing them Is the same. the penalties are unchanged; there is sure to be trouble for those who are caught In the act" says The Mobile Journal Let no one imagine that the issue in the late campaign was loon or no saloon. Wise leaders of the people. recognising what trouble the too violent movement has caused the state will exert themselves to prevent reflex violence. They will strive to get from the turn of the pen duium all possible good. without any of the evils that would be entailed were re- straint exercised" Sensible talk thls and in the actual circumstances-needed talk.
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14
afR. AGEE WRITES OF CONTESTS IN
 THE FIRST.
James DeiIet Refused to Accept In- strucfians from His Constituents, Except Those Given at the
 Ballot Box, Unlike
 Men of Today.
BY N. A. AGEE.


 In a late Advertiser was pub lish ed some proceedings in the Legislature of Kentucky many years ago, which pro- posed to instruct Henry Clay how to vote on some political question. The resolutions were vigorously opposed by an admirer of the great statesman, a member from a back county, who said that Henry Clay did mot need any In structions from them that he had more sense than any of them. The resolu- tions were put to sleep son the table.
 This reminds me of an incident in the political history of James Dellet Of Monroe County. He was aA'Whig of the Henry Clay school of politics; was q Representative In the Legislature from that county several terms, from 1S1s to 1881. and was Speaker of the House in 1S19 and 1921. He was elected to Congress from the Mobile district in and again in 1S43 over Judge Henry Goldthwaite of Mobile.
 MT. Dellet was a man of great force of character. honest in thought, firm in his convictions of right and energetic in sustaining them. He was noted for his sarcasm and invectiye in forensic encounters, and political debates. He never practiced any of the arts of the political demagogue. or tried to curry ravor with the voters, put kept on the tenor of his way, as If he neither expected nor desired any favors from the public. The people honored him for his honesty and integrity.
 In 1s43 Judge Goldthwaite. @ Demo crat. resigned his seat on the Supreme Court bench to contest the First Dis trict for Congress with MT. Dellet. The candidates arranged series of public debates in the district. and the cam paign was vigorous from start to fin- ish. Mir. Deficit found Judge Gold
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14
TUESDAY, DEcEMBER IA. 1908.
INFAMOUS CONDUCT.

That was a fearful arraignment of the men who are holding up the peo- pie. and extorting high prices from them which appeard in Mondays Ad- yertiser, copied from The New York World. We had seen references to the matter before, but none so pointed as this one. It reveals condition which ought to be at once probed to the bottom and if the statements made prove to be true there ought to be severe punishment for those found guilty. The anti-trust law ought to be most rigidiy enforced against those who are putting the price of provisions to that point where very soon only the really rich will be able to make purchases of anything except enough to maintain life. and on a very stinted schedule. The whole scheme as outlined by The World is monstrous and places the whole country at the mercy of few men who control the output of the prime needs of life. It is difficult to explain why every article of food should go up to fabulous prices all at once. It cannot all be charged up to scarcity. for some things the greatest crops ever known have been made. It is undoubtedly because of unhoiy combinations and If there Is no law to reach men who would thus aid in starving the poor and needy one ought to be speedily enacted.
 In way. our people for the future can guard against a repetition of present conditions. Plant grain crops. devote some time to raising hogs, cat tie and poultry. No real farmer in Alabama need buy anything to eat If he does 1t Is due to his own inatten- tion to those feature of farm life which are too much neglected in the South--the raising of home supplies first and other things second.
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14
NO FLOOD OF NEGROES
 IN OFFICE IS FEARED
Northern Politicians Believe The Presi- dent Will Be Conservative
 southern Men Juhilant.
Washington Special to The New Yorl

Washington Special to The New York
 President Tafts declared policy of appointing negroes to Federal offices in northern states and of refusing them any patronage in the South aroused much interest today. It was we'll understood that, Mr. Taft you'd reverse the rule' of oMr.i Rooseye1t tc- good places in southern states. and since March 4 last. no negro has been given Federal office in any Southern
 In his ante-inauguration speeches President Taft did not declare his pur- pose of appointing negroes to official positions in the North. His announce ment now of such an intention comes as shock to northern politicians. although they assert that the Presi- dent will not go far in carrying out such a policy. They say he really means that such negroes as are given Federal office will be in the North. and that there is no reason to assume that he will name more than the usual few that are provided with good places under every Republican ad- ministratlon.
 for sending Judson w, Lyon, former register of the treasury and Republi- can National Committeeman from Georgia to Liberia as American minis ter. There win be no antag9nism to such an assignment. MT Lyon IS highly regarded in Georgia, both as a lawyer and as a clean politician.
 Senator Bulkeley of Connecticut this evening said: Tn Connecticut there are 1000 negro voters as compared with 100000 white men who exercise the suffrage. There is certainly no objection to the negroes of that State being given their share of the Federal patronage."
 Senator Tillman of South Carolina: T hope the President will follow the policy reported. It would make an admirable program to enlighten the Northern people on the beauties and pleasures of having negro office holders"
 Senator Money of Mississippi, the dent inaugurates such a method of distributing offices 1t will be sla1ly welcomed in the South. If the people of the North want negroes to fill the Federal offices hope the President will appoint them." f-''
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14

If 1t were possible to get at the facts it would be highly interesting to know just what per cent. of the people of the United States read the Presidents message: leaving out the proof-readers and others whose busi- ness and duty 1t was to read it.. These messages have become a regu- lar requisite of our governmental sys- tenn. and they possess matters of in- terest to all citizens. but we judge that very few read them. Each man Is willing to let some one else per form that duty, if they really look on it as a duty, and we suspect that a majority of them do not so regard it. As a seller we doubt If one of them would be a brilliant success.
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14
False Prophecy.

DekalK Record.
 We still hear an occasional echu day we received a letter from a su-- scriber who Is in arrears for subscrip- tion telling us to stop his paper as lie did not want paper that advocated whiskey. but he said nothing about paying his subscription. He belongs to the 'holier than thou" crowd and is also narrow between the eyes. This paper has never advocated whiskey We have refused whiskey advertise ments from other states when. our governor, our circuit judge and the preachers were on the stump in De- Kalb county telling the people that they had no intention of preventing the people from ordering. and having in their homes all the wine, whiskey and beer they wanted. and that they were only fighting the open saloon, and some of them even said the peo- pie could make ali the whiskey and ton. We don't like to refer to the un- pleasant past but we challenge any man to show that we have ever en- eouraged the use of whiskey in any and so did large majority of the people of DeKalb county. To charge that they favor whiskev Is false. They are for prohibition, and If the Issue were whiskey or no whiskey there would hardly be a hundred men in the county who would vote for whiskeJ. Those who charge that we would have saloons in DeKalb county If the amend ment were defeated were false proph- cts and the people know 1t, and they were false prophets when they said that the amendment would carry. A subscriber has the right to stop his paper but one who was on the moral side" of the Issue surely ought to pay his subscription and not state an un- truth In giving his reason for quit ting.
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14
FRENCH JUNK FROM PANAMA.
Machinery That Cost Millions in the
 Scrap Heap.

Machinery That CoDt MtihOMh lD thc
 Scrap Heap.
 New York Sun.
 The Isthmian Canal Commission has begun the job of transporting about Tod, ,O00 tons of old French junk from the Isthmus to this city. The junk tanks. barges. boilers. girders. dredges. sheet iron. parts of old ma chinery. and other things for which the French canal company paid millions of dollars and which is left to go to ruin on the dsthmus.
 The Commission Is selling on com petitiYe bidding all the old iron and steel along the canal route except such parts as may be reserved for
 About roo tons will be moved to the States every two weeks by the steam ships Ancon and Cristebai. It will take three years to transport all of the junk. Most of it will be scrapped where 1t lies on the Isthmus. The Commission will ship no pieces Of more than twenty tons in weight,
 Most of this old material Is of for eign manufacture. and as 1t is landed in New York Uncle Sam is confronted with the proposition of being obliged to pay himself sl a short ton on the entry. Under provision in the sum dry civil act of May. 1908. this duty canal funds. but to accomplish this without a special appropriation each year 1t will be necessary to have the sale consummated only after the, junk has passed through the New York custom house.
 The sale is being made at this time chiefly for the purpose of getting out the old material that lies in the great basin of Gatun Lake before the basin Is filled with witer. There are large quantities of the junk in the lake basin.
 Some of this old French junk has been found in extraordinary places. Dredges have been discovered almost completely buried in sand, hundreds of feet away from any body of water and overgrown with dense tropical veget- ation. Apparently they have been carried away from the river bed hy high water or the river itself had shifted it's course. Several of these buried dredges were in 5 fairly good state of preservation and are now doing work on the Isthmus
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14

The Hartford Times is reminded of one very important omission the Pres ident made in his message; reminded of it by remark made by the dele gate to this country from Porto Rico. '"rhe President" he complains. did not say word about our island" That was downright cruel in MT. Taft, but perhaps he will remedy the error in a later deliverance. It won't do to slight our dependencies. Porto Rico is part of our domain and no doubt the Ricans feel that they are so well entitled to presidential notice and courtesy as some of the rest of our young ducklings are. We sup pose the Presidents attention has been called to the slight and that he will make proper amends.
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14

to lack of moisture in the air of tho
 The. government has just found out that coal mine explosions are not due to Ignition of gas but to dust com
 Air when warmed expands. It is like a sponge. and when expanded has interstices between its molecules of within them which. upder natural conditions, i'll with watery vapor.
 Dust Seisee All the Germn.
 The dryer the air becomes the more dust 1t will carry when deprived of watery vapor. When the air is suficientiy charged with this fine dus' it IS as explosive as gunpowder; .s. home. the school. and the office. We heat our houses by steam or hot air. hut there is no adequate means of giv ing 1t the moisture 1t craves after being expanded; It therefore seixss
 This dust carries the germs of all our foul air diseases--pneumonis grip. scarlet fever. and nasal catarrh. sssteam Heated Womanse +sAwhen yeu fiifd yourself saying things 10 those you love and weeping hitter tears irgmsdiatsly. afterwards. VI Vicious temper: is fis oiiiy bseasss y0s are steam heated. itah
 When you cannot attend your club without being enraged at what Is said or done by other asteam heated women. do not upbraid yourself or them; re- member that the club Is steam heated. made up of women from steam heated homes, and run by those who are driven to desperate measures by the kind of air they subject themselves to.
 '"rhe steam heated woman is not satisfied with seventy degrees of tenn perature, She learned at high school that her home should be between six ty-ftve and seventy. She runs it up the scale on the way to the insane asylum
 Divorces Haag on Warm Air.
 "rhe thin blooded teacher has be- come used to dry air as 10 and re quires more heat. She shows the en- gineer that the thermometer Is wrong and gets him to run the room above. if she can.
 She let's the air run up to seventy i've and does not check its rise. The engineer, hearing no complaint from her. continues to make 1t warm for her and hot for the children.
 Agony may be averted by this sim pie expedient, Divorces and scandals hang on this warm air. Incompati- bility of < temper and disposition abound in this unnatura! air, Death and disease of the lingering as well as the rapid varieties hover over the steam heated family"
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14
Young Davi. and the "i<ukens."


 Confederate Veteran.
 Young Jeff Davis Is taking course in mining engineering at ColunDia College, New York. and he Is giving practical study to 1t In every branch devoting much time to its chemistry' laws, and advancements. Last sum mer with couple of his Classmates he went to the mines to see ana un- derstand their workings at first hand; These college boys doffed all the tog- gery dear to the hearts of most youths, put on the blue overalls, the cap with it's light In front. and went hard to work in the mines. carrying their lunch in tin pail, sleeping at the cabins, and keeping the hours with the other miners.
 A German and his family lived near the mines, and evidently ranked min CTS and tramps in the same category, with very little use for either. One day Jeff Davis and his friends decid- ed to go to the home of the old Ger man and see if the 'housfrau" would not sell them some of her famous bread or "kukens." When the Ger man saw them enter his gate wearing their rough mining clothes he rushed out and angrily ordered them off. He would not allow them to explain, but said he would send his dog after them If they did not leave at once. The boys left full of laughter at their unique experience. as one of the three was the son of a railroad magnate, one the petted heir of multi-miliion- aire. and the third. Jeff Davis. the grandson and name bearer of the South's loved President.
 Later when the Germans learned whom they had turned so peremptor- lily from their doors they were very apologetic, and the boys. appreciating the joke on themselves. were very glad to receive both the apology and the fine bread which accompanied it. Young Davis graduates next spring. and bids fair to thoroughly under stand his chosen work in all it's bear ings.
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14
White House Cold Will Stay Away Un- | til Taft "Sends for Me-"
 Washington Special to New York

W
 The Senate insurgents are facing a cold winter at the White House. Those who fought the Payne Aldrich Tariff bill must figure on finding the door way blocked with ice.
 Senator Deliver, of Iowa. wno in- surged, bethought himself of n nice It, tle post office Into which friend would fit He hastened to the White House and requested an audience with the President He had to wait. Finally a messenger sauntered along and said:
 The president says he Is unable tO see you He will try to see you next week"
 "Piease tell the president said MT. Deliver. with great viRor, that if he sees me he will send for me-"
 With that Mfr. Deliver damned his hat down on his head and stalked out. Wren MT. Taft made his speaking tvur through Iowa during the campaign he was accompanied by MT. Deliver Whenever Mir. Tafts voice failed Mir Delivers husky lungs came to the res cue and rested the candidate. When President Taft passed through Iowa on his l3.OOo-mIle trip this year Mir Deliver remained in his tent,
 Senator Delivers experience today has thrown the little band of Senate insurgents into consternation. It looks to them as If the president intends ta hand them a spanking and firmly sup, port Aldrich, Hale and the powers that be,
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14
Now That Alabama Has voted.

Hartford Cou.ant.
 All the big newspapers of the South--ai of them at least, that come our way--are well pleased with the result of the recent voting in Alabama They see in the defeat of the attempt to jam prohibition into Ala bama's state constitution the turn of the tide In The Mobile Register find q partial list of the Alabama newspapers that wHhstood the hot onsiaught of the prohibit yertiser The Birmingham Age-Herald The Birmtng ham Times. The Cullmap Times The DemopOfis Times. The Gadsden Times Her aId. The ThonHsville Echo. The Huntsville Mercury Banner, The Bessener Weekly. The Marion standard, The Falrhope Courier The Foley onIaeteF. The Andalasia Star--citx
The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-14

There are some who are disposed to regard Franklin MacVeagh, Mir Taft's Secretary of the Treasury, as one of the insurgents" because of some recent remarks on the Payne Aldrich tariff law. If treason has crept into the sacred circle of the Cabinet what may we not expect next? But is it not at least proba- ble that the secretary's speech was inspired by his chief?