davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1909-06-11

IHTHE DISTRIcTCoURToF EFOURrH
JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF THE STATE
OF NEVADA. IN AND FOR THE
COUNTY OF ELKO.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
Exports and Imports

Not in many years had imports ex- ceeded exports down to June and July last. Whether this change was due to short wheat crop or to anticipatory importations on account of the then pending tariff bill, or to both, no one can say. In the course of August and September we will know which way the merchandise trade balance Is to go.
 Those who are watching it become deeply interested in the outturn of the cotton crop. Out of $S33 100000 of agricultural products in the last fiscal year cotton furnished S417 ,000,0 ,000, or almost exactly one-half Cotton Is our chief export crop, and the size of the growing crop may determine whether the balance of trade will be in our favor or against us.
 The world needs 12,43S,0OO bales of American cotton. So runs the Ellison estimate, and the latest government report does not point to a crop exceed ing Il BOO 900 bales. However, an esti- mate of cotton production made early in August is not altogether trust worthy. We do not even know how many bushels of wheat we will have for export and the harvest Is well prog ressed. The picking of cotton is in the future, and we may have enough cot ton and wheat to overcome all imports, leaving a so-called trade balance in our favor. It is possible.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
IN HOTEL LOBBlES
No Passes to Fair.

That announcement about passes to the State Fair has had the same effect as a proverbial thunder bolt from cloudless sky said a member of the publicity committee of the State Fair yesterday. Men for years have, as a matter of habit, asked for and received passes and are not favorably impressed with the new order of things
 They cannot seem to understand that the State Fair is run at tremendous expense, money which outside the S2O0,O0O or more already invested for grounds and buildings, must be spent to secure ex- hibits and attractions.
 We are determined that this shall be the best State Fair ever held in Alabama, and we are going to lun it on the same basis as a great big mercantile institu- ton. You can realize how deeply our hearts are in our work when we tell you that every officer of the Alabama State Fair and Exhibit association Is going to pay 50 cents every day he goes to the fair. and for his family and guests, he will pay that much more.
 ''The directorate of this years State Fair comprises men whose business aeumen is attested by their own eommer- eial inteserts. They have thought long and deeply on this pass proposition and the result Is what we have just an- nounced"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
WARNING TO sNIEEERS.

From the Atchison Globe.
 For the love of man." a Topeka girl wrote, and then took carbolic acid and died. It was the reading of the in- cident that Atchison doctors have agreed was the cause of a certain Atchison woman's serious illness She gave sniff of contempt when she read of girl who killed herself flor the love of a man. and sniffed so hard that the sniff went in and affected her vital organs. The woman is married. has seven chill dren, works like farm hand in harvest. though her husband is in good circum- stances. and hasn't had an outing In ten years. Doctors say that this sniffling in contempt is apt to prove serious when woman sniffs as hard as this woman sniffed. She put in that sniff all tht disappointment, all the contempt, all the bitterness, all the heartache of 15 years, and the sniff simply shattered her whole system, and displaced half her interior.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
THE DAILY NEwsPApER.

From the St. Louis Republic.
 Railroads receive more attention from the newspapers than murders and sui- cldes. Educational and scientific mat ters receive more attention than divorce and scandal"
 These statements Of fact may not read fly be believed by sensitive souls who are offended by any tinges of yellow ness" in the newspapers they read. but the facts are ascertained by the cold and simple process of counting. The state- ments are made in an instructive article by MT. Arthur L. Street of Chicago, whose business it has been for 10 years to index and analyze the contents of the leading newspapers in all the principal cities of the United States.
 In 35,000 items of news examined by Mir Street he found a total of 1343 narratives of crime. while the items of foreign news numbered 22so, and those relating to rail- roads counting up to 114O. The 65s items of labor news were nearly half as many as the items dealing with crime of every description. The President of the United States was mentioned in $50 items and other prominent men in 527.
 Education and science were mentioned fin 397 items, medicine and surgery in 2es, religious topics in 3so, panics banks and business in AZ. Add the news of the theatrer and other amusements, news of athletic sports of society, of the mar kets and all the currents of the day and 1t will be seen that only the mentally color blind find the daily newspaper mostly yellow"
 The truth is that the modern newspa- per, by the very conditions of its ex- istence, must hold the mirror up to the doings of the world. It is vastly more than a chronicle of the events of a sim gle day. Among its functions is to re- cord the effects of causes that have been many days or many months in opera ton.
 More and more the daily newspaper en- ters into every field of human thought and action. It is neither more nor less moral than the people whom it serves. Often 1t must print news 1t would rather omit; but even its stories of crime and folly make more for morality in the main than silence would, since they serve as warnings
 The average of morality and right liv- ing among civilized people Is good or the civilization would not last. The news paper reflects civilization as it is.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
REMARKABLE DINNERS

were led into the room and treated to champagne poured into massive silver bowls.
 Some years ago three theatrical com Preston Station in the middle of the night, condemned to wait three hours for train to carry them northward. In order to while away the time a concert was planned and given by the members of the three companies. stage was constructed out of square trolley and a programme was written out on a large sheet of paper, which was pasted on the door of the waiting room The audience consisted of a few private passengers and the railway officials at the station. Although there were no musical instru- ments of any kind, an excellent enter tainment was given.
 A grand concert was given a few years ago within the Catacombs of Paris and it was attended by the nobility and gen. try, together with students and artists models of the Latin Quarter
 Only one concert has probably been given in tomb. This took place in the tomb of Agamemnon at Mycenae, in Greece, on the occasion of the visit of a Philharmonic society of Nauplia to the ancient residence of the King of Kings" so dark was the tomb that the band had to play by torchlight
 Some years ago concert was held on the top of the chimney shaft of cotton mill at Oldham. The artists were car ried to the top of the chimney, where platform had been erected, by means of a rope and a wooden seat Crowds of people assembled at the foot of the chimney to hear the songs and a selec- tion of popular music that came, down from the summit.
 A most remarkable concert was given in Paris during the exposition of 1889. The members of a Philharmonic society of Versailles ascended in captive bal- loon and music was the order of the day during ascent and descent.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
Peary and the North Pole

The relief ship Jeanie has steamed out of St. Johns, Newfoundland, bound to Etah on the Greenland coast, where, according to previous agreement, she will find the exploring vessel Roose- welt and possibly Peary himself. The Jeanie carries northward an abundance of supplies including coal for use on the Roosevelt.
 These supplies will be greatly need ed if Peary determines to stay another year in the polar regions. He went away believing this effort would be his last one, and if he has not been able to reach the pole this year he may conclude to make another attempt next year. In that case the Jeanie will re- turn without him, leaving the Roose- welt at Etah to shelter him through the coming winter.
 AS things stand Lieutenant Shackle- ton got nearer the south pole than anyone else had to either pole. This statement is, however, based on the assumption that Peary has not reached this year his objective. The truth is, he may have completed his work, and he may be waiting at Etah for supplies that would enable him to steam back homie full of the feeling that his hard task had been completed at last. The planting of the American flag at the north pole would render him his torical figure even if it did no other good.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
New Hioh Records Predicted.

'There never was a time. perhaps, when business men were so optimistic about the future as they are now" said B. H. Clements of Chicago. "I was in New York two weeks ago and every business man with whom I talked predicted great prosperity for the coming fall And that has been the talk in Chicago, Cincinnati and other cities of the middle west all summer. Business began to revive very materially last spring and now since big crops are in sight prosperity talk is in greater evidence than at any time since the panic.
 Here in Birmingham I find the same healthy optimism that prevails in the north and 1t is safe to say that inside of 12 months this district will be making new high records in everything. All in dustrial operations will be pushed to capacity and the only difficulty will be in keeping up a sufficient supply of labor-both skilled and common"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
Truth hath a quiet breast
"Better ThingS Promised"

Even the New York Tribune con demns the scandals that entered into the makeup of the Payne bill, and it says better things are promised in the tariff commission authorized in the new bill at the dictation of the Pres ident.
 On the surface the commission is to be appointed to ascertain facts con nected with the maximum and mini mum joker of the new tariff. but even Senator Aldrich admits that "the Pres ident can employ whom he pleases and assign them where he sees fit." The Rhode Island senator goes on to say the tariff commission clause covers every conceivable phase of the tariff question. The clause reads as follows:
 ITO secure information to assist the President in the discharge of the duties imposed upon him by this section, and the officers of the government in the ad- ministration of the customs laws, the President is-hereby authorized to employ such persons as may be required
 The clause is ambitious, sharing in that respect the general tendency of the new tariff, but it is plain the Pres ident is left free by it to do just about as he pleases. He can name a commits sion that would lay foundation for a just and scientific tariff, or he can name a partisan commission that would meet the desires of the special interests. The entire subject is up to the man who said In his acceptance speech at Cincinnati: Unless we act in accordance with our promises, or if we only keep the word of promise to the ear and break 1t to the hope, we shall be made accountable to the American people and suffer such con sequences as failure to keep faith has always been visited with. It would be better to have no revision at all, unless we are going honestly and fairly to revise the tariff on the basis promised by our party"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
4 Great Englleerine School

The demand for technically eduea- ted men in the south grows steadily and in view of the large industrial de- velopment in mineral Alabama the services of we'll trained engineers and metallurgists will be needed in increas- ing numbers in the Birmingham dis trict.z It is very gratifying, therefore, to learn that the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa, is raising it's techno- logical department to the highest rank. Engineering has long been a strong feature of the university, but this year an important advance has been made in it's engineering equipment. Its min ing school has reached a high degree of efficiency and its new testing labora- tory is unequalled anywhere in the south.
 While maintaining high standard in it's academic department the uni versity will accomplish valuable results along the lines of technological .educa- tion. And it will be only question of a few years when it will be in class with Cornell as an all-round en- gineering institution.
 For applied theory in mining the university has excellent advantages. It is situated near coal and ore fields, and close by Is a modern blast fur mace plant. Moreover the university is only 60 miles from Birmingham with Its multifarious industrial inter- ests, including a model steel plant and classes in engineering can visit the i'm mediate Birmingham district every Saturday if need be and study steel making and rail making under the most favorable conditions. A few years ago the Birmingham Commercial club, now the Chamber of Commerce, took up the matter of technical educa- tion and appointed a committee to start a movement for establishing a large school of technology here. But as Tuscaloosa is in the Birmingham district in the wide sense and as the State University has already built up a technological school and installed the most approved testing appliances, Bir- mingham's need has been, in a great measure at least, supplied. Our tech nological school problem has, in fact, been easily solved.
 A mechanics institute, such as is found in Richmond and perhaps other southern cities, where ambitious ap- prentice boys working in machine shops, have the opportunity of studying at night some of the theory relating to mechanical engineering, should be es- tablished in Birmingham and doubtless will be before many years; but as for the large technological school young men who desire to be thoroughly trained will find just what they are looking for at Tuscaloosa
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16

partment's efforts. It is wholly natural that an agent of the department in the field, who gathers information from surrounding farmers, should find more damage to the crop than really exists at least more than promises to last as long as the crop does. The local re- porter is in other words bullish, and so are the farmers with whom he comes in contact.
 What the general tendency of the re- ports made to the New York company will be remains to be disclosed. The probability is they will be as bearish as the government reports are bullish, and then the public can get good esti- mate by striking a mean between the fxun
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
Secretary Wilson's Rival

A company has been chartered in New York to collect information about the growing cotton crop. This com pany has ample capital and ample skill. It's experts were trained as rule in the department of agriculture.
 This company may approximate re- suits in its first year, but it is reason ably certain that the governments es. inmates will in the long run prove the more trustworthy of the two. New York is not a place free from specula. tors and operators in futures, and some of them will contrive no doubt t. sample permaturely the reports of th < new company.
 The government reports are. as g rule, underestimates, but noNone ques lions ct present the honesty af the de
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
WOMACk'S LUCK.
LA New York World.

From the New York World.
 It was not Bob womanck's luck to make a stake at Cripple Creek. For more than 30 years before the discovery of gold there he had known every foot of the country. He had ridden all over 1t and knew 1t by heart, for the Womack horses and cattle ranged back of Pikes Peak The Womack cabin stood near the middle of what is today Colorados 8 richest mining district, and the Womack horse pasture inclosed good part of the site of the present city of Cripple Creek.
 When the sudden boom of Cripple Creek was heard around the world Bob Wom- ack stayed on. but he never had any luck. Stratton, who as carpenter and small contractor had never made much of success of anything. drifted up from Colorado Springs, stumbled one day over a bit of rock which was to be the key to the Independence mine and died many times a millionaire. Outsiders came in and located and bought claims that made them rich, capitalists followed. smelters and reduction works sprang up, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold were taken from the land about Cripple Creek that Bob" Womack had known since boyhood. but nine years after the first bucketful of ore was hoisted he dies on the spot poorer than when he first set tied there.
 In every mining camp in the west stories of the poor mans luck abound. They are commoner than paying mines 'n Colorado and Nevada and California. The poor prospector's imagination is forever fired by the dream that some day 1t will come his turn to "fall into it," like Strat- ton. or in hunting for lost burro to light on a Holy Moses mine like Creede. or to break loose a piece of gold-bearing ,a1artx by accident with his bootheel, as a new bonanza king of Nevada did few yAars ago. It Is the chance of drawing thsA big prize in the lottery that keeps men .hunting for gold all their lives long on a1krubstake of bacon and beans. What Wonhack missed finding only shows how n1uch luck counts in the game and keeps Others playing 1t until they die.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
SAN FRANCISCO HooDLUMs.

From the Washington Herald.
 'The hoodlum element in San Fran cisco was one of the worst things the city had to contend with in the years just preceding the earthquake said George A. Avery of Los Angeles. at the Raleigh last night. "The tough element had gradually grown into such power that 1t acted as if in unison, opposed both to good government and police enforce ment On picnics to points outside of the city, participated in by persons of that stripe, the cars in which the trip was made sometimes returned with the win dows smashed. and with the seats and upholstering in bad state of disarray It was simply a spirit of vandalism and rowdyism, which had grown to point where 1t was a grave public question.
 "On one occasion the troops and artil- lery from the Presidio were set upon while parading on some holiday or other, and before quiet was restored several of the gun mounts were badly wrecked. Later, General Funston was asked to let the troops under him take part in an- other parade. He gave back fiat re- fusal, saying he would not subject the soldiers and apparatus of the govern ment to the as yet untamed mob
 Another instance of the same hoodlum- ism came when the San Francisco Bule- tin inaugurated tho publicity campaign against municipal graft. The mob ele- ment immediately rose up in arms against the idea of cleaning up the city and the newspapers that had the bad form to sug- gest it.
 "The newsboys in the streets were at tackled until they were afraid to sell the paper. The management of the sheet then adopted the plan of having elderly women act as 'newsboys.' That method worked pretty well they were naturally immune from attack. But then the row. dies since adopted the idea of mobbing the persons who bought the Bulletin. For some time lawlessness seemed to have an almost free rein.
 "Since the earthquake, however. con- ditions have been vastly better. That acted as an automatic clean-up. together with the military law that went with 1t, and the necessity of building up the city afterward Now the old-time hoodlum- ism is practically thing of memory. Few of the changes that have taken place in San Francisco have been more welcomed by those who have the welfare of the city at heart"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
ALTON WATER.

By Robert Burns. Flow gently, sweet Alton, among thy
 green braes; Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy
 praise; My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring Flow gently sweet Alton. disturb not her
 dream. Thou stock-dove whose echo resounds
 through the glen. We wild whistling blackbirds in yon
 thorny den, Thou green-crested lapwing, thy scream
 ing forbear: I charge you disturb not my slumber-
 ing fair How lofty, sweet Alton, thy neighboring
 hills, Far marked with tho courses of clear
 winding rills! There daily wander as noon rises high. My focks and my Marys sweet cot in
 my eye. How pleasant thy banks and green val
 leys below, Where wild in the woodlands the prim-
 roses blow! There oft as mild evening weeps over
 the lea, The sweet-scented birk shades my
 Mary and me. Thy crystal stream, Alton, how lovely
 it glides, How wanton thy waters her snowy feet
 lave, As, gathering sweet flowerets, she stems
 thy clear wave! Flow gently. sweet Afton among thy
 green braes; Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of
 my lays; As Mary's asleep by thy murmuring
 stream, Flow gently, sweet Alton, disturb not
 her dreA
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
POWER OF RAWHIDE ROPE
From the New York Tribune.

From the New York Tribune
 H IGGERS were having trouble with 0 safe suspended in midair in
 \ front of Park Row building yes- terday morning, and it attracted the att tention of the aristocracy filling the benches in City Hall park. Dirigible Smith, having one man off his bench, started in on a newcomer
 'rThey oughter have buckslSin tackle for that" said Dirigible, noddlng in the di- rection of the safe.
 Hey, what7 Buckskin7 How's thatT' asked the new one.
 '"The hot sun comin' right after rain 30, if they'd had buckskin there wouldn't be no trouble about h'istin' that safe" continued Dirigible.
 q don't savvy," said the transient seeker after light and leading.
 well, you would if you'd been brought up with me out in the Slnnemahoning valley, in Northern Pennsylvania" said Dirigible, as the knot of listeners in- creased.
 There ain't nothin' like buekskin for lifting weights, especially when the meteorological conditions are right" re- stunned Smith. pausing to let "meteoro- logical soak into his listeners.
 "Gosh" said he with near-enthusiasm, "Ill never forgit the way old Jim Spaf- ford cleared off his stump lots with buck skin. Old Jim was a cute old cuss as ever lived. He knew all about the weather. and if he'd lived till now he'd probably been called either a great scientist or a nature faker.
 But he wasn't faker, no siree. Old Jim was all right He Knew how to use his head. Deer was thick around him, it bein a new country. and he hunted a good deal. Tanned the hides and druv quite business trappin'. When 1t cum time to clear up his wood lot he said he didn't need none of them new-fangled stump pullers.
 "'All want is plenty of rain and hot weather. Gimmie the right kind of wealth CT and I'll show you how to pull stumps scientifc,' said old Jim.
 well, after his spring plantin' the weather sot in wet and hot by turns and Jim got busy I went up with the Skeels boys and Uncle Bill Rood one mornin to see him operate. It was Just through rainin' when we got there, and Jim had the queerest git-up ever see. Had a lot of buckskin ropes half hitched around string of stumps and the ends of the ropes was hitched to a big white oak tree near the house.
 We thought he was plumb crazy. He set down on the stoop and cooked his eye at the weather. In about an hour the sun
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-16
The Iron Market.

The pig iron market has been firm at $13.50 on No. basis for a week or more past, and it is generally thought it will advance to s14 by September l, if not earlier
 The price has risen gradually from $11, which indicates more stability than when the advance has been sudden. There is no excitement in the market, and there is hardly any question but that iron for 1910 delivery will start at a schedule not lower than S14