davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
Another Perfect Day.

This Sunday has been an ideal day, such as Henry Grady described in his prose poem quoted by Ned Brace in The Age-Herald of today" said a lover of outdoor life last night. There was bracing tone to the atmosphere and walking was a pleasure.
 About 43O p. m. I started for con stitutional. taking my way down Third avenue. The sun was full In the middle of the perspective, hedsed by the walls of the buildings. and 1t was brilliant 'sunburst' set in the coral coloring of the brick; 1t seemed to almost All the end of the street. The arcade of electric lights seemed like fref1ies fastened in wire netting.
 well, l strolled up through Capitol park, around several blocks. and when I turned my face eastward into Sixth avenue the moon, like a great golden globe, filled the entire prospect, having just risen in the horizon to about the height of two-story structures
 By the way all the signs and the prophets point to very long. cold win ter in the west and here in the south we will share it, only the gulf waves of warm air will soften 1t for short pc riods."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

The 32 questions relate to the past history of each individual as well as to his or her present condition.
 In some countries a census is taken in a single day, but in this country that is impossible The enumerators will do well to cover their districts in a month. The questions have been thoughtfully prepared, and the hope is they will bring out information that the country lacks in the treatment of sociological problems.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
Mrs. Taft In Good Health.

Washington, December 26.--President and Mrs. Taft took a long walk through the snow this afternoon, being gone from The President was bundled up in great fur overcoat while Mrs Taft wore a dark tailor-made gown and furs. At a discreet distance two secret service men trailed, but otherwise the President and Mrs. Taft were unaccompanied. Mrs. Taft's appearance is complete contradlc- ton of the numerous reports about her i'll health. Both the President and Mrs. Taft attended church in the morning and no guests were present at dinner. the family dining alone. A great quantity of flowers were sent from the White House to the various hospitals and institutions at noon.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
IN A FRENCH PENAL COLONY

work 106 per thousand died yearly. The convict knows we'll that if he escapes death one year the odds are double against his doing so the next. His only road to liberty lies in flight, but if he Is on an island unless he could secure a boat. even if he did succeed In eluding his guardians sharks would frustrate all possibility of escape long ere he reached the mainland, few hundred yards away
 Escape is easier from the prisons on the coast, but here again the fugitive meets his fate as soon as he penertates any distance inland. One night in the open means certain death in these parts, while in addition the neighboring Dutch authorities are ever on the qui vive to see that none of these desperadoes enter their dominion. In order to shirk their daily task, the convicts frequently chop off limbs or otherwise disable them- selves. So often does this self-mutiiation occur that it has been found necessary to set aside a special colony for the un7 fortunate creatures. Here guards chain loads of stone or other material upon their backs, which the miamed convicts are compelled to carry to their compan- ions. In time the constant weight on their shoulders doubles them up, and, the work of destruction being as complete as humanity can make 1t. death comes as the only relief.
 The compulsory settlers spend their leisure making articles out of wood, which they are allowed to exchange for tobacco. Others amuse themselves by tat tooing their bodies. The most popular in- scriptions are Liberty or Death" "Child of Misfortune" and NO Hope, but one particular individual. possibly sentenced for wholesale bigamy, has cov- cred himself with pictures of his twelve brides. Cayenne has damped this crimi- nal's humor, for under each portrait ap- pear the words, Till death us do part"
 After several years on the settlement during which exemplary conduct has been the rule. convict is permitted to leave his prison and live in hut. To all in- tents and purposes he is a free man, see ing to his own food and generally taking care of himself. But, as has been said be- fore, very few live more than four or five years, so that this type of prisoner is not frequently met with.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
THE EAST IN POLITICS.
n the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

TOfN tuS 0t. Iaui IloHccT fTcSS.
 The suspicion obtains that the restric- tions which 1t is proposed to throw around the constitutions of the new states are to be used as a possible excuse to defeat their final admission. The old-line mem bers of Congress, particularly the repre- sentatives from New York, New England and Pennsylvania. are opposed to the ad- mission of the territories. The admission of the territories would mean the addi- tion of four senators and a half dozen or more members of the House. who, in the nature of things. would be chased as progressives with votes and sympathfes in favor of measures demanded by the west and northwest Every addition of this kind threatens the already weaken ing hold of congressional control by the east. Under such circumstances, the at- tempt to refuse the admission of the states because of some objection to the constitutions thsy may adopt seems trihs farfstchtd
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
DEFECT IN DRAMATIC CRITICS.

From the New York World.
 A youthful playwright whose drama dealing with race antiquities was recent ly produced at the New Theatre, says in explanation of the fact that he read but one of the critical notices of the play:
 My agent called me up on Sunday morning and told me not to read them. She said that the critics, with one ex- ception, had failed to understand the play"
 Dramatic critics make their living by understanding plays. Tn the case of a drama too subtle for their intelligence, it is interesting to speculate on the chance of it's being understood by the general run of theatregoers Luckily the superior acuteness of the one critic caught the message which the others missed and the public Is enabled to understand what that message is
 But in view of the authors statement that he said in the play exactly what he meant, how can the failure of the other critics to perceive his plain meaning be explained away except on the theory that they are incompetent? For dramatist to assume that his work is beyond the comprehension of critics familiar with Shakespeare and the classic drama no less than with Ibsen and Henry Arthur Jones requires some degree of self-assur- ance. But the obsession has been known to exist in authors as regards managers who neglect to make their everlasting fortunes by refusing to produce works of budding dramatic genius, and it may not improbably exist in a young playwright fresh from college and still under the spell of the success ofshis maiden effort.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
WHERE TOYS COME FROM. .or,, tha Chicaan nailx News


 Much of the extraordinary variety in the entranoing windows of toy shops just now comes from the German fatherland. A German newspaper Is responsible for the statement that nine-tenths of the toy soldiers are the work of GsrmAn hands, and during the past six months no fewer than 100000 dolls, dressed and un- dressed. were sent to Engiish-speaking countries. The principal source of these toys is the little town of sonnsberg. in the duchy of saxe-Meiningen, where thou- sands of men, women and children are engaged in this industry. sonneberg is responsible for the torsos and heads of the dolls, Berlin for their toilets. The doll dressers of Berlin are supplied with the latest Parisian dress modsls and omit
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
Special Correspondence of the New Tor

Special Correspondence of the New York World
 S ARIS.-The horrors of life in the P French penal settlement of Cay
 enne as set forth by Dr. Jacques Bertllon, the eminent Paris criminologist
 and inventor of the finger-print system
 of Identification, should have an impor- tant bearing upon the present guillotine controversy in France. Tn the ordinary course of events as statistics show, all but the exceptionally robust convicts are going to an early death when they set sail from Nantes or Bordeaux. The voy- age out is a pleasant change from the cells of an Assize court but the condemn ed criminal experiences none of its de-
 lights. He is enclosed in an iron cake like wild beast, and is only allowed one short half-hour daily during the three weeks in which to breathe fresh air. He knows that a pipe Is laid into his cage through which. should he show any incli- nation to mutiny, he would be suffocated by smoke. On his arrival he is conduct ed into dismal building whence he only emerges. If he emerges at all, to under take difficult and dangerous work.
 Tn French colonies there are 18.S71 crim- inals, of which 15,520 have been con- demned to simple deportation and can otherwise live freely; 5e43 are settled in New Caledonia and are subjected to a mild sort of penal servitude, while 57OO are undergoing strict discipline in Cay enne. The worst offenders are dumped to begin with on Devils Island, whence they are afterward transferred to the prison of Kurn, situated on the very worst part of the coast, Yellow fever and dis eases of the skin brought on by the sud den change of climate account for the weakling without delay, while the strong CT prisoners have to do battle with pois- onous snakes, blood-sucl1ing vampires, bats and fatal fly bites
 The soil is so soft as to make building upon 1t impossible, and there is a grim saying that in place of houses human re- mains cover the ground. The death rate is appalling. No official figures are ever published-for good reason; but Dr. Ber- tillon has been able to ascertain that dur ing the first six years of this century 109 succumbed out of every thousand doing hard labor, while of those with lighter
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
THE GODS OF LETTERS

likes golf, skating, tennis. We prefer to , think of the "authoress' in this book. who stoutly declares that her favorite form of recreation is sleeping. Would that there were more. This recalls the young American poet who ayers that lunching is for him the proper thing.
 Robert Hichens is given to driving, tennis, riding, traveins; Frank liar ris declares that he finds 1t pleasant to write about his seniors in the art of letters" Shades of Shakespeare. The positivist Frederic Harrison takes kindly to gardening; Thomas Hardy to the study of architecture Maurice Hew- lett gives no clue to his playmaking; perhaps. like Ma Beerbohm, he reads his own works" and we fairly com mend the practice; . practice with auth ors moro honored in the observance than In the breach. DAnnunzio goes up in aeroplanes; Tolstoy farms: William James reads novels; Henry James dotes on metaphysics; Maeterlinck keeps bees and canoes; Pinero belongs to the Beef steak club. That gentle anarch Prince Kropotkin indulges in bookbinding and carpentry; Gorky loafs at Capri; Pre- mier Asquith golfs; so does Andrew Lang-when he isn't firing upon Ana tole France with verbal bombshells.
 What recreation Is most liked by the Colonel? Here is the list the longest in the volume: "Ranching and big game hunting on the great plains and In the Rocky Mountains; much interested in zoology, especially fnammalogy and field natural history generally" There is material for two three lifetimes compressed in these frank sentences Directly below them Senator Elihu Root gives his Washington address: naught as to his moods of relaxation
 The vanity of tenors .s proverbial, but there are other professions in which q good opinion of ones capacities and per sonal charms may be discovered. This big red book of 1910 is the place in which to find them all.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
sALLADE OF SLEEP,

BQ Andrew Lang. The hours are passing slow, l hear their weary tread Clang from the tower and 10 Back to their kinsfolk dead Sleep. Deaths twin brother dreat Why dost thou scorn me SO? The winds voice overhead Long wakeful here know, And music from the steep Where waters fall and flow. Wilt thou not hear me, Sleep? All sounds that night bestow Rest on the feverd bed, All slumb'tus sounds and low Are mingled here and wed, And bring no drowsihead. Shy dreams nit to and fro With shadowy hair dispread; With wistful eyes that glow, And silent robes that sweep. Thou wilt hear me: no?
 Wilt thou not hear me, Sleepf What cause hast thou to show Of sacrifice unsped? Of all thy slaves below
 I most have labored
 With service sung and said; Have culPd such buds as blow, Soft poppies white and red. Where thy still gardens grow. And Lethe's waters weep. Why, then, art thou my foe? Wilt thou not hear me, Sleepf
 L'ENvOI. Prince, ere the dark be shred By golden shafts, erelow
 And long the shadows creeps Lord of the wand of lead, Soft-footsd as tho snow.
 VIII thnsa not hear naA eleeps
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
MIDNIGHT MUSIC AT GRAVE.


 Emmitsburg, Md.-Christinas was ush- cred in at Mt. St. Marys college at mid- night by the playing of the "Adeste Fideles" by Larry Dielman on his flute.
 For years it has been the custom of MT. Dielman, who is an expert musician. to visit the grave of his father in the old Mountain churchyard at midnight Christmas Eve and play the Adeste. In former years he began playing half an hour before the Christmas mass at St. Anthonys church. but as there was no mass this year he made two trips to the cemetery, playing his flute along the mountain road each time. Persons living along the way year after year remain up to hear the midnight music, which Diel- man always plays without regard to the condition of the weather. This year number of strangers are visiting in the vicinity of the college to hear the mr-!c-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
BEACON HILL ON cHRlsTMTs EVE

From the Boston Glope.
 On the western slope of Beacon Hill there survives as nowhere else in Bos- ton an old English custom observing Christmas Eve, and the Globe has no he's itancy in advising Its readers that by visiting Chestnut, Mt. Vernon, Pinckney, Beacon and intersecting streets on Friday evening they will witness scenes equally charming to the eye and the ear. An nually on Christmas Eve the residents of that section illuminate their houses with candles, and from the choir of the Church of the Advent and from other musical organizations singers go about the streets singing Christmas carols. The custom of decorating and Illuminating their houses has long been followed by the older residents, and the effect has been so pretty and so popular that the newcomers have taken 1t up.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
ToLp OF KING MANUEL.
pm the Chicago Daily News.

From the Chicago Daily News.
 "Yesterday I was midshipman," said Manuel of Portugal after the assassina- tion of his father and elder brother had made him monarch, today am King. I know nothing about reigning, because I am very young and never thought of being King. Thus I beg of you to be my friends and give me good advice" These pathetic phrases are said to give the key to the boy monarch's character.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

no detail in their more elaborate produc- tions.
 The toymakers of eonneberg are, how ever, among the worst paid workpeople in Germany. It often happens that the earnings of Sonneberg workman and his family, working IS hours a day, do not exceed s2.4o week. About three years ago there was an exhibition of homo in- dustrtes in Berlin. where articles from sonncberg were displayed, the making of which was paid for at the rate of cents an hour.
 Numerous instances are on record of children after school hours working six hours at a stretch colorins and polishing the heads of dolls for a pittance of 1a cents an hour
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
THAT the gods on the high Oiym- tCD pus of arts and letters do oc-
 caaionallv unhend unhutton and

THAT the gods on the high Olym-
 tOD pus of arts and letters do oc-
 casionally unbend, unbutton and recreate we are assured by Who's Who" CLondon) for 1s1o Somebody wasn't it Theophile Gautier ?-swore that the best reading in the world could be had in the dictionary. There are many who find solace in various encyciopae- dias; but we plump boldly for Who's Who" whether in Europe or America Therein the complacent victim. be he millionaire or artist. agitator or man of the cloth, answers a series of cum ningly framed questions that usually bring forth self-revealing answers Men babble in its pages as they would never dare to babble in their sleep.
 Is it not instructive to read that Hall Cains bicycles that Marie Corelli "has devoted herself to literature" the phrase-"but has never abandoned her love of music-piano and mandolinT' When George Moore was questioned as to his amusements he answered: Re ligion" This may smack of irreverence to many, yet we wager 1t Is near the truth. Religion has always played dominant role in MT. Moore's life. First he would, and then he wouldn't; he was born a Roman Catholic; then he seced- ed; then he was a prodigal son that returned to the bosom of his family; then he broke away again. He may yet retire within the shadow of the ca- thedral-
 Bernard Shaw's notion of recreation is embodied thus: Anything except sport" Being a confessed vegetarian, this Is logical answer. MT. Chesterton refuses to admit any other form of recreation than marrying MT. Shaw or getting a rise" out of MT. Wells. MT Churchill is blank on the question:, perhaps he knew that 1910 would furnish its quota of sport political A. 0. Benson admits that he played football until 1889. His clever brother, the author of "Dodo."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
Wrong Bottle Holds Fatal Dose.

El r.r sls. sris., December 26.-The g. months-old daughter of Mir. and Mrs. George o. Beebe was i'll, and it's aunt, who was assisting the mother to nurse it, gave 1t, through mistake, half teaspoonful of a preparation of ammonia and glycsrins. The mistake was discov- cred in . vsry few minutes. but the child died. ..sr
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

The Birmingham merchants pretty generally agree that their trade was better this December than last or the December of 1907. The volume of shopping has been very large, but the best thing about the mercantile situa- tion is that 1910 promises to be un- Daralleled in prosperity.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

The Chautauqua circuit should in- vite Dr. Cook to come to this country to deliver a lecture on Fakes and How to Unload Them on Kings and New York City"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

The Copenhagen decision is ref1ec- tion on the precipitate New York board of aldermen who plumped for him even before he arrived in this country
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
Pond Issue for City Waterworks. Texarkana. Ark. December 26.-A

elei ~as held in Texarkana, Tex, O i'refion of q s2oO000 bond issue for a municipal water works plant. and 1t carlied by vote of 215 for and 4 against. The Texarkana water corpora ton has an 11-year franchise and a fire hydrant contract with the city. If the municipal plant is built litigation is likely to result
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
The sprIno Festival.

Birmingham will have a music fes- tival in April and the committee in charge will endeavor to make it the most successful event in the history of the city," said J. Fl. Holcombe. president of the Music Festival association.
 we have q contract with Walter Dam rosch for his superb orchestra and a quartet of brilliant singers. Early in the new year the festival management will be busy with details. The festival will bs extensively advertised and we hope to see hundreds of visitors here from Alabana- Tennessee. MississiDpi end Geor1ia-"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

The Baroness Vaughan cannot go on the vaudeville circuit in this country until she fights back the princesses who want the $5o,oOo,OO she inher- ited
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

Now and then a railroad president is found who was not once a water boy or section hand. Such men are scarce, but there are few living ex- amples.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

Governor Folk says men are honest when they have no selfish reason to be otherwise. Right you are, oh, wise ex-governor!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

Ambassador Keren's trip to Vienna is distinct recognition by this ad- ministration of the national campaign fund.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

A daughter of Pierpont Morgan leads the striking shirtwaist makers of New York, and the bosses will no doubt soon begin to sit up and take notice.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27
Bank cIearinos Are so.rIn,

Little Rock. Ark. December 26.-Ths Little Rock bank clearings have taken big shoot upward Last year tbev were s2Ss.1s51s and now they are ,s75,l
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

The f{n is now moving northward, but it $ not doing it helter-skelter. It is we cautious and orderly.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

The English want no campaign that lasts over six weeks, and the Alabama state committee would do we'll to study their plans.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

Dr. Cook did go to St. Louis, but the Missourians who met him forgot to say, You have got to show me-"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

This country has heard enough about the north pole and desires to change the subject
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

It Is said injections of rattlesnake venom will cure hookworm. Also pei laxra. 1t is a kill-or-cure remedy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

People will no doubt go on telling it to the Danes
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

Dr. Cook still possesses the freedom of New York city, but he is not in po- sition to, enjoy the honor greatly
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

pr. Cook is at any rate the man who first claimed he had discovered the north pole.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

The Copenhagen decision has not boomed the gum drop market.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

Madriz is but another way of spell ing Zelaya.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

Dr. Cooks records were poorly kept He was no bookmaker.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

Don't tell it to the Danes unless the evidence will stand criticism.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

The Danes also appear to be from Missouri.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-27

Mrs. Leopold quickly decided she had rstEer be . live widow in Paris than dead one in 1russsls
The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1909-03-29
DURANT AGAIN DOING
LEGISLATIVE STUNT

llllcn 1ureni. The choelaW who
has been in both legislative sessions
Of the state and was also a member q
the constitutional eBnyeniion Is agein
doing TIE legislative act He is ihe
heac of the Choctaw council which
as usual, msets and passes upon The
affairs which we're never wound up
from i0-mer days Durgnt lives Gt ihf
edge OF ;he city Of Durani one OF gbe
prelnest ana most entertaining cite
of the state There hts ancnst0H
lived, end TIE DuTant homo s. known
Tar and near for hapllalllg and gen
efuus impulses toward eli gh5 hau
eauae 70 nees .la oWne
Win uurant, like bis faiher aas
played an importiat role IN nc hl4
tory Of HE people lie Is 6 leede- ni
meE, grariosls. anu Hble to ii all times
make quick use uf the teienls given
him as G herite-e From "a aan0sea
sire.
1T The hreo dlfeieri yeafH he has
soiourned ii the staic capital as i
member Ct lhc assembly and the con.
Venli0n which framed The organic lfe,
he mas bpcofne .tnoWn ID almost 81 0l
the residents os the eapllel city. ana
his standing is second TO uUue as man
and legislator