davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
SLAVERY STILL PERSISTS.
Vast Region in Southern Congo Over
 run by the Raiders.

From a Letter in the London Spectator.
 I have recently returned from Portu- guese West Africa, where I have spent in all nearly two years in the islands of San Thome and Principe, and travelling on the coast and in the interior investi- gating the conditions of coored labor.
 The Portuguese islands of San Thome and Principe employ some 5000 natives from Angola, who, though well cared for, have been taken there against their will and, with some few exceptions, remain there till death. Twenty years ago the average yearly export of natives was about 2200. In 1901 it reached 4752. and the official figures for eight months in 1908 totaled 1924, being at the rate of near ly 5000 natives a year. If 5000 are actually landed in the islands, how many are raided or betrayed in the interior to sup ply that number? Some are brought great distances, and day after day. for months, toll under a merciless sun to- ward the coast, weary, thirsty. sick at heart. I have seen them on the road, lean and scared, their bent knees totter- ing under heavy loads. Many die and leave their bones by the wayside Count less shackles that once secured their limbs at night lie rotting in the grass. On one occasion whole caravan of slaves pershed of smallpox on the road
 
 tain long marches must be made, and too often loiterer has been buried alive, or hamstrung and left to perish as, a warn- ing to malingerers.
 A vast region of the southern Congo is overrun by the revolted native soldiers of the Congo Free State. who armed with modern rifles and ammunition, pursue their occupation of slave-raiding under an ex-sergeant named Yambayamba In one day they raided thirteen villages within 12 miles of a Belgian fort at Ka- yoyo. Some of them are cannibals; and a slave they had sold when asked why they had not eaten him, replied that they scratched the arms of himself and a companion, and after tasting the blood sold him and ate his companion.
 Though there is less open violence than formerly. it is. obvious that only by de- ceit and force can natives be taken from their pleasant homes in the interior and sent to\ toll and die on an island the name of which has been a terrior to them from childhood. Although on the fore deck of the steamers one sees merely is impossible to conceive the sum of hu- man misery their export represents. One cannot think in thousands; but recall the case of a young girl named Neyambi, sold by fraud about the time I was at Bihe. The mother, though only an ugly, wizened old native woman, was almost hroken-hearted that her free-born daugh- ter should be slave. Husbands are separated from their wives, children from their parents.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
Changed His Name.
From Tit-Bits.

From 1it-B1tS.
 It was a very small circus to begin with, and it had suffered persistent hard luck After a weeks rain, and the death of most of the menagerie, the returns fell off so alarmingly that the salaries of the artists" were not forthcoming. When the patience of the performers was well-nigh exhausted, the circus strong man, Zero. was selected as spokes- man. and a protest made to the manage ment. He was told that everything would be adjusted at the end of the week.,
 The savings of the artists" were run ming very low, but they consented to wait and work. At the end of the week they were asked to wait for another week, and then for still another week.
 By the time Zeros savings were all gone the show suddenly broke up Zero sought the management and explained his penniless position, to say nothing of his companions. The manager said he was very sorry, but that they had started to pay off all the people with the show and had got down to the names begin ming with T when the money gave out Zero walked home. At the beginning of the next season Zero presented himself at the office of the old circus manager and applied for a position He was &C., cepted willingly. The salary was agreed upon. All the details had been arranged when the manager took up his pen to fill out the contract blank.
 We agree to pay Mir. Zero" began the manager, when he was interrupted
 "One moment.' said Zero; this season my name is Ajax"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
MAKING CRIMINALS OF THEM.
Christian Nation Held Responsible for
 Vice Among Chinese.

From the New York Evening Mail
 We are told that Chinamen are apt to be vicious. degenerate and degraded understand the term. And it is true that among the Chinese in the congested Oriental quarters in our great cities vice is frequently to be found in almost every conceivable form.
 Vice-yes; and much of this Chinese vice is the direct offspring of opium, which is forced upon the Chinese nation by England. In 1796 the Chinese prohib- tied the importation of opium, as they had a perfect right to do. The English found successful ways of smuggling it into the country: and when, in 1S4O, the Chinese sought to stop this illicit traffic, the English bombarded their ports, in- vaded their provinces, and in two years forced the Chinese to capitulate and al- low free trade in the hdeous drug which has debased millions of their people.
 It was Christian nation, aided and abetted by other Christian nations, which compelled the Chinese to accept this soul destroying drug, to which the contempla- tive Chinese nature is peculiarly suscepti- ble &
 It is a Christian nation which has seg- regated the Chinese in this country in the vilest slums, apd relegated them to the worst influences that white man can bring to bear upon the brown and black and yellow races, And has there ever been since the beginning of history a baser record than the story of the white mans influence upon his "lnferiors?" A home continent depopulated Of a noble red race, an Oceanic island world decim- ated and hopelessly diseased. an Africa stained with unspeakable cruelties and reeking with massacre, China debased
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
Truth TeIIinu.

From the Chicago Record-Herald.
 Pa said little George when his fa- then attempted to carve the Sunday duck. "I can't tell lie I dulled the carving knife.''
 My son. said Georgie's father after looking gravely at him for a few min utes. "I am glad to forgive you. Let me explain why forgive. It is because you have not tried to deceive me. You have told the truth Therefore you shall not suffer punishment. I wish to have you realize that 1t is always best to tell the truth. You see how easy it is If you had lied to me about dulling the knife it would have been very hard for you to keep from letting us find out the truth indeed. We would have found 1t out soon- CT or later. and then you would have been punished Thus you would have been made very unhappy in addition to having been compelled to invent a lot of falsehoods, which would have been very hard work. A liar always creates trouble and sorrow for himself. Remem- Der that. How did you happen to dull the knife?"
 ''I was tryin tp whittel off one of the limbs of that tired you had set out in the back yard, 'cause it's got a. nice prong Tor a slingshot."
 George, you come into the attic with me! By thunder, I'll teach you not to cut limbs from trees that I've paid good money to have planted"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
MODERN CLERMONT TAXES THE WATER Reproduction of FuIton's Little Steamer Is Completed GREAT CROWD IS PRESENT Great-Granddaughter of Robert Fulton Christens the Unique Vessel in
 Memory of the Great
 Inventor.
 
GREAT CROWD IS PRESENT

New York, July 10.-Sliding down the ways as gracefully as any big, modern ocean liner ever took the water, the strange looking little craft which is replica of Robert Fultons Hudson river steamboat, the Clermont, was launched today under the auspices of the Hudson Fulton celebration commission at the Mariners harbor yards of the State Island Ship Building company. Next fall, during the Hudson-Fulton celebration, the Cler- mont replica will be the central figure in a great hotilla of warships of all nations
 which will accompany her over the same course on the Hudson from New York to Albany which Fulton took in the original trip, on August IT, 1897, amid the derision of the multitudes who lined the shores and waggishly called the inventors ex- petition "Fulton's folly"
 The ceremonies today were witnessed by about 5000 persons, including the majority of the living lineal descendants of Robert Fulton and Chancellor Livingston Gen. Stewart l.. Woodford, president of the Hudson-Fulton commission, presided and Mrs. Alice Crary Sutcliffe, a great grand daughter of Fulton, christened 'The First
 Steamboat as it slid into the waters. Mrs. Sutcliffe broke on the bow of the replica beautiful silver fligre glass vase filled with water from the we'll on the
 Livingston place at Clermont, on the
 Hudson, where Fulton made the first stop on the maiden trip of the Clermont. As the vase broke she said: q name thee Clermont auspiicously, again proclaimng to the American people Fultons own sentiment in his essay to the friends of mankind. Industry will give abundance to the virtuous world and call mankind to one unbounded feat of harmony and friendship
 While the sponsor spoke, a dozen car rier pigeon, released after the Japanese custom, from a wicker basket started their flight north to their homes on the Hudson. On a leg of each pigeon a rib- bon was fastened bearing the word rom Fulton's essay used by Mrs. Sutcliffe The replica is as nearly the duplicate of the original as the commission could build from plans and dimensions noted in some of Fulton's letters. She is 150 feet long, IS feet wide. feet deep. She draws two feet of water. Her sides are almost straight up and down, and both
 ends are wedge shaped. She will be equipped with replica of the old engine, and will make her trip up the Hudson to Albany under her own steam.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
TURTLE FIGHTS CARP.
Victor and Victim Are Lassoed After
 the Battle Is Over.

From the New York World
 Everybody in Pleasant Plains, Staten Island, was down to Jim Laforges store on Main street Friday night to hear Bob Russell tell about the battle he witnessed between a 32-pound snapping turtle and a carp in Sharrott's pond. And to prove that he wasn't fibbing he had the turtle on exhibition in Jim's window the dead fish in the ice box, and Bill Westcott and Zeke Hawkins as witnesses.
 Bob was driving along Princess Bay avenue when he was attracted by a splashing near the edge of the pond. He sprang from the buggy and saw a four pound carp struggling to free itself from the beak of the turtle that was slowly dragging its prey up the bank. Bob ran to Bill Westcotts, borrowed a clothes line, lassoed the turtle and hauled it to land The carp's right side abaft the head was lacerated, and it died while Bob and Bill were hoisting its antagonist into the buggy. When I ran to the pond the turtle had a death grip on the carp,' said Bob. 'The fish wriggled and squirmed to get free. but MT. Turtle there just held fast, backed water and was trying to climb up the bank when I lassoed him."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11

from all liability for the loss of the arm He refused asked for time; friends had advised him not to do so, he said. The liability company then asked for full investigation by their local attorney.
 ''The evidence was investigated, the friends and fellow workmen were inter viewed and statements made by them reduced to writing. Then, it being the policy of these concerns to buy claim ants off if it can be done cheaply enough, their attorney was authorized to pay him S350, less the amount already expended for his doctor, hospital bills, and wages while not working. These items amount ing to 72.5o, it left the magnificent sum of $1N.50 to be paid to this man as the net price of his arm.
 'T am the lawyer in the case, and I confess 1t with shame. I made him the offer, but he refused 1t, saying that he had seen a lawyer who advised a suit, offering to accept as his fee one-half of all that was recovered (generous soulD. After several interviews he offered to accept $500 as full payment. His offer, of course, was laughed at most scorn- fully and promptly refused as utterly ab- surd. I told him of the great resources of the company, the attorneys paid to fight such claims, the laws delays and expense. He did not know of the liability company's interest and supposed the set clement would come from his employer. He became silent and reflective, and his eyes held a fugitive glance. It was then that he said as he raised his face, Mis- ter, desc t'ings go hart on the wimmin.
 "The liability company meantime had used the last arguments, had reduced the offer, and had instructed the em- ployer to threaten Dane with discharge unless he accepted settlement prompt ly. He came to me again, and, harden ing my heart, told him bluntly that the offer was now $500, which meant deducting what had already been paid out for him, that he would receive $127.50. I thought he paled slightly as I spoke to him, and as he sat with face half -averted.
 "He finally accepted the. sum offered, signed a full release. mad his person ality and troubles passed from my life.
 His employers should have seen John Dane's helpless look and heard the sigh in his voice as he rose to leave mo and get back to the work that made his shoulder ache, for his last words were, No, we can't go back to Denmark now If we had the fare<money. found oud since l wass here that cripples can't come unless dey are rich.' Meaning, I presume that bonds must be given or deposits made to protect the country against the danger of their becoming public charges.
 "Yes. truly he had abundant cause for being depressed. In this land of free- dom and hope to which he had come with buoyant heart he had been driven to sell one of the arms with which he had supported wife and child for $127.50. In the name of God, have we forgotten that greatest of command ments Love one another?'"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
NATIONS SaPLAYGRCUNDS.
Twelve Great Parks Have Been Estab.
 Iished Since 1872.

George Otis Smith in Review of Reviews
 The nation that leads the world in fev- erish business activity requires play grounds as well as workshops. If we aspire to maintain industrial supremacy we must perforce think of conserving not only minerals, but men. Arguments for scenic preservation need not be limited to esthetic or sentimental postulates; the playgrounds of the nation are essential to its very life. Nor can the materlalist turn aside from this demand of the times, for no greater value can be won from mountain slopes and rushing rivers than through the utilization of natural scenery in the development of citizens
 John Muir has justly termed the moun- tain parks fountains of life. Here can be had the recreation that makes for in- creased and maintained efficiency. The appreciation of the beautiful in nature should become more and more an Ameri- can characteristic, and in these days of national ck-taking we do well to inven- tory the nations wealth in wild scenery.
 The national policy of preserving the best of America for present and future enjoyment is we'll fixed. Since 1872 12 na- tional parks have been established. in cluding public domain within as many different states, with an aggregate area Of 35OO0OO acres. In addition to these res- ervations there have been created since June, 1906, Is national monuments in nine states, with a total area of over 1,5O0,00O acres. The Grand Canyon and the petri- fled forest in Arizona and the natural bridges in Utah are the most notable of the national monuments; of the national parks the Yellowstone, the Yosemite, and the Mount Rainier are the best known. The Secretary of the Interior is the fed eral officer charged with the administra- ton of these national reservations, and Congress makes annual appropriations for their maintenance, those for the current year amounting to $175,ooo. The present policy is to make the utilization of these resources for recreation available to the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
LABORER SELLS
 ARM FOR $127,50 Pathetic Story of a Dane in American Tannery TOLD BY AN ATTORNEY After Losing Arm in the Employ of Company Is Forced To Com
 promise Loss for Mere
 Plttance.
TOLD BY AN ATTORNEY

A tragically true and pathetic story is published in the July American Mag azine It is an account of mana Dane-who lost his arm in a tannery and of how his employers treated him thereafter. What lends particular in terest to the incident is that it is told by the lawyer employed by the in demnity company with whom the crip- pled mans employers were insured. The following is the story in\ part:
 .'He was a Dane and had been in this country but year. In Denmark he had been a master butcher earning the equivalent of $3 per day. With his wife and one child he had come to America in the hope of bettering his condition, and had taken the first work offered in the city to which he came. This work was manual labor at a machine used in tannery for removing the hair from hides. The hides are treated in vats and then removed heavy and dripping, and thrown over the ma chine, which is in the form of an in clined plane running down and away from the operator. Back and forth over this plane, which is flexible, runs a knife roller, revolving rapidly, which cleans the hair from the hide. This Whirling cylinder. is controlled py lever near at hand, which stops, starts and changes it's direction.
 Dane. had worked at this machine for several months without accident. One day he saw lap in hide as the cylinder came upward; he reached for the lever and so set it that the cylinder should haee stopped. As he did so, and relying on it's proper action, he reached over to straighten the hide with his left hand. The machine did not obey the lever, the cylinder, armed with its swiftly revolv- ing knives, came upward, and in a twink ling had chewed and destroyed his arm to the elbow. The surgeons saved part or the stump of arm which remained.
 "The man was taken to the hospital. thence to his home. and was treated by the employers physician. His wages were continued. and within six weeks, though scarcely able, he returned for work and was set to piling bark in the yard.
 Matters went on as usual for lew months, then, at the request of the lia- bility company which insured the em- ployer, the superintendent of the factory asked. Dane. in a matter-of-co way. h N, sign a paper releasing the employer
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
FOR REN7

FOR RENT Store No. 216 N. 20th street. This is one of the best business locations in the city. Apply 1904 Second Ave.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11

and perverted, answer that question to our shamei
 No-our skirts are not clear in the case of these sad-eyed Orientals who are so honest and so harmless under ordinary conditions, but who sometimes seem sub ter-human in their vices. We are reapng. in the case of such tragedies as that of Elsie Sigel, the harvest of a seed that we nave sown. We have been at infinite pains to make strange, dark, and ingen- ious criminals out of these people.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11

greatest number of people by building roads and trails. issuing maps, and safe guarding the health and comfort of visi- tors through sanitary Improvements and supervision of the transportation and hotel concessions.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
A Natural Inference.

Johnny was singing My Country 'Tis of Thee" When he came to the line Land of the Pilgrims Pride,' he sang Land Where the Pilgrims Cried' Nam ma corrected him. He said: 1T though 1t was 'cried'-I thought she cried be- cause her father died.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
Her Queer Petition.

From the Delineator.
 The Sunday school teacher gave little Florence the verse, "O Lord, increase my faith"
 The next Sabbath when called upon to recite it, she rose to her feet and sol- smnly said 70 Lord. grease my facel''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11

Having been thoroughly overhauled and improved, the steamer N. B. Forrest has left for Decatur, Ala. The repairs and improvements cost several thousand dol lars, and the Forrest Is now one of the handsomest boats engaged in river traffic. She will in all probability be used on the Chattanooga-Paducah line
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11

Superintendent Gilbreath of the Chatts nooga public schools has compiled a spel CT which he will attempt to have intro duced in the schools of Tennessee, and now in Nashville for the purpose of lay ing the matter before the sub-text-boo committee. Superintendent Gilbreath speller was recently adopted by the stat board of education of Louisiana.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-11
Cleaning Out Boys Wear

Housecleaning in the Boys Store that's all
 Just right for Boys vacation wear-now is the time to take advantage of these reductions.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-10
DEPEW TALKS OF
 SECRET SERVICE

Washington, January 9.-(Special. )-Sen- ator Chauncey Depew announced today that hereafter the upper body of Con- gress would make searching investiga- tions of all presidential nominees; inquire into their fitness and delve into the per sonal records of the men appointed. This is one more move in the congressional war on the White House
 "The constitution provides" said the senator that appointments shall be made by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate In making his selections who hears of the President ask ing the advice of anyone?
 Take the appointments of port ap- praiser of New York, commissioner of immigration or assistant treasurer. These places are of national importance. The functions of these offices affect the na- ton at large. It has been the policy of the Senate heretofore to confirm the Presidents appointments without inquir- ing whether the men were qualified, if they were decent or honest That policy is to be changed
 Tn future senators will have a little secret service of their own. We will as- sure ourselves of the propriety of ap- pointments even though the committee to which the appointments are referred re- port favorably upon them"
 Senator Depew also stated that in the matter of Judicial appointments the Sen ate committee on the judiciary expected to be careful in the future He instanced the case of Judge Hundley of Alabama, whose nomination has been pending in the committee for nearly two years.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-10
Vanderbilt Disappears.

New York, January 9.-(Special)- )- William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., apparently has disappeared. He arrived here from Cuba today on the Ward liner Mexico and landed in Brooklyn Where he was driven no one seems to know At his home in Fifth avenue tonight it was denied that he was there. At his fathers house the greatest aston ishment was shown over the fact that young MT. Vanderbilt was here. They asserted that he was still in Cuba. The ships register, the officers of the ship and the records of the officers, how ever, show that he really was on the Mexico and that he landed here about 9:30 o'clock this morning.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-10
A Claw In Nebraska.

Omaha, January 9.-(Special.)-Th Rev J. H. Carmichael, wanted in Adair, Mich. in connection with the murder of Gideon Browning, is thought to be in western Nebraska, or at least to be headed toward that section, and close watch is being kept for him In that section, and in Omaha and Lincoln, where he might possibly change cars.
 Carmichael was formerly stationed in western Nebraska, having had charge of churches at both Grant and Benkelman, this state. At Grant he bore good repu- tation, but he was forced to leave Benkle- man when charges of indiscretions were made against him and he was dismissed from his pastorate.
 For "A hours detectives have watched all trains passing westward through Oma- Ina and local officers in the sections where Carmichael formerly lived have been mo- tified to be on the lookout for him.