davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
SISnaling to Mars

Professor Pickering of Harvard is in the market seeking capital for an en- terprise that is very novel and very audacious, but that is not promising in the respect of immediate dividends. He wants $1OOO0,Q0O with which to build and establish mirrors that will send flashes to the Martians, who live, of course, on Mars The little planet is only SS5,OOO,OoO miles away at times, and Professor Pickering is confident that he can communicate with the peo- pie of Mars if he can induce capitalists to put $1O,OOO,OO0 of fheir money into a set of mirrors.
 The professor leaves, however, many things unsettled. He does not tell us how his flashes are to be interpreted into words by the Martians, nor does he seem to know much about their tongue or customs. The capitalist, who is proverbially cautious, may fear his flashes may be lost in space and that no line between the two planets of commercial value would be established. No doubt there is much the Martians could tell us, for as things stand we do not know what they tbink about suf- fragettes or the wet '-and' dry" issue, or the rights of capita, ard labor or many other interesting subjects.
 Unless Professor Pickering can in- duce MT. Carnegie, who is brayely and consistently endeavoring to die poor, to set up the needed mirrors it begins to look as if a wireless system will never be established to and from Mars. Mr. Rockefeller has vast income, but he is not troubled with a desire to die poor. He is even willing to die rich, and he is in a fair way to do so. Pro- lessor Pickering should therefore lay his prospectus before MT. Carnegie at this end of the mirror line, trusting to the Martians to do the rest at the other end of a line that would outdo MT. Marconi's many millions of miles.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
East Wing of St. VinCent'S

The good people of this valley should not forget that the present $200,000 hospital was almost gift to them. The Sisters of Charity furnished all of the money except possibly $10,000; and a local necessity the sisters again step up with a donation of s25,000, asking the people of the district that the hos pital serves to give as much more. Only about $15,000 of the popular fund remains to be subscribed for, and this sum will certainly be raised as a busi- ness and humanitarian proposition.
 An east wing would enable the sis ters to open a ward for diseases that cannot at present be accepted. At present person who is suffering from some afflictions must either go to the pesthouse in Shades valley, or else re- main where he may spread the very trouble he has acquired An east wing the sisters of St. Vincent's to receive and care for such cases in the modern manner and with safety to all.
 The efficacy of the hospital service at St. Vincent's has been well tested, and this district knows it cannot have too much of it. As a plain business matter as well as for humanitys sake the sum needed, $15,0O0, should be speedily raised, and The Age-Herald has full confidence it will be.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
OLE BULL, THE WIZARD.

From EYerybodys.
 The truth is that Ole Bull was not a classical player; as I remember him he could not play in strict tempo; like Chopin, he indulged in the rubato and abused the portamento. But he knew his public. America a half century ago, par ticularly in the regions he visited, was not in the mood for sonatas or concertos "Old Dan Tucker and the Arkansas Traveller" were the mode. Bull played them both. played jigs and old tunes, the echoes with the Star Spangled Banner and Irish melodies. He played such things beautifully, and it would have been musical snobbery to say that you didn't like them You couldn't help your self The grand old fellow bewitched you He was handsome Merlin, with & touch of the charlatan and a touch of Liszt, in his tall, willowy figure, small waist and heavy head of hair. Such white hair. It tumbled in masses about his kindly face like one of his native Nor wegian cataracts. He was the most pie turesque old man I ever saw except Walt Whitman at that time a steady attend ant of the Carl Gaertner String quartet concerts in Philadelphia. (And what Walt didn't know about music he made up in his love for stray dogs; he was seldom without canine company)
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
Church and Stage.

Forty years ago. when was a lad, most Of the churches were so decidedly down on theatre going that the church member who went to see even a Shake speare play was looked upon as a friend of satan," said an old citizen. The mar row view of the dramatic profession held by elersymen as a class has passed away, but occasionally We find preach CT who still tells his congregation that the theatre leads to destruction.
 While every one knows that question able plays are presented nowadays, tne stage as whole is educative and uplift ing. l was glad, therefore, to see hun dreds of school children present at Shake speare's Julius Caesar which was en- acted at the High school auditorium by the Ben Greet players. Tho legitimate stage should be and Is encouraged by the best educators In the land, and only a few sensational or fanatical ministers raise their voices against it."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
Our Mighty African Hunter

In all the annals of hunting, which are apt to serve a grandstand purpose, there is no story of an expedition that had been so widely advertised as the one in which our ex-presidential Nim- rod is the star figure. It is an inter- national hunt so far as an audience is concerned at any rate. Already Mom- basa has been left behind, but the re- porter has not been, nor have the wires of one sort or another
 The mighty hunter is in or near the jungles, where the lions roar at night and the monkeys chatter all day long The snort of the hippopotamuses and the trumpet of the elephants will lend spice and variety to the clamor in the depths of Darkest Africa.
 All the world waits. No report of the prowess of our hunter in the dark continent WILL De TecelNeu WILL uOuDIS or misgivings. The world believes him capable of any adventure. No charg- ing rhinoseroses will escape his deadly aim and as for lions he may overcome them in a rough and tumble encounter.
 The hour of bulletins is at hand, and an anxious world almost hears the re- ports of his unerring shots. It does not stop to think that the best self advertiser since the days of Julius Caesar is in the jungle. It simply sees a faunal naturalist who is not content to return to private life in an unosten- tatious manner while he can serve the cause of science and the Smithsonian institute.
 Well, let him shoot. Let the bulle- tins come thick and fast, and let Truth take vacation while the mysteries and achievements of this most remark able expedition are scattered broad cast over a wondering and credulous world.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
DIME NOVELS GRIP CURE.

From the New York Times.
 Mayor Mcclellan has a new cure for the grip, which he is recommending to his friends. The discovery is a strong testi- monial for the medicinal properties of the Nick Carter dime novels
 The mayor has been suffering from an attack of the grip for several days, but has remained at his desk. He found that the combination of the malady and his work necessitated radical measures for mental relaxation and hut upon the idea of spending a few hours each day with a volume of Nick Carter He found the ex- pertinent to surpass his fondest expecta- tons and told his friends about it.
 An interesting incident followed.
 John G. Milburn, who is a close friend of the mayor, was chatting with him the other day, when he remarked: "I had a startling experience with MT. Ledyard today. He has been suffering from the grip for some time, but has insisted on remaining at work. l went into his office to inquire about his health and what was my surprise to find on his desk sev- eral volumes of those cheap dime novels written by a person named Carter. A most startling habit, your honor"
 Yes" replied the mayor. q sent 'em to him."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
PRESENT-DAY GIANTS.

From the New York World
 A Tammany politician redolent of pros- perity and other things recently expressed the belief that if Washington and Jeff ferson were living in these days they would be popularity regarded as two spots." Everything grows larger now than it did four or five generations ago. If population, wealth, commerce, taxes, expenditures and officeholders increase, who shall assert the statesmen do not ex- pand?
 Not Senator Cummins of Iowa. surely, for he told Senator Aldrich and Speaker Cannon almost to their faces the other day that they wee greater than Webster and Clay. He had views also as to Wash ing. If the first President had encoun- tered the problems which the one ex- President now living had met he would have recoied helpless"
 When jurisconsult from the gashouse district says that Washington and Jeffer- son confronted by the giants who now inhabit the earth would appear pygmies we may well be incredulous, but Senator Cummins cannot thus be brushed aside. He Is a familiar of those who now oc- cupy the seats of the mighty. He sees them daily. He is one of them himself.
 Washington has been called immortal. Jefferson has been canonized by a great party. Webster was designated as "god- like" Clay was and is idolized. Must these laurels so long triumphantly worn be transferred to Roosevelt, Aldrich and Cannon. and if so, what will be left for Curnrnins2
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
Memorial Day

Tomorrow is legal holiday. It is the legal Memorial Day, but Camp Hardee and the veterans of this city have wisely decided to hold all public exercises today. These exercises will take place at Oak Hill cemetery at o'clock this afternoon.
 It is nearly 30 years since the close of the war. In 1911 the term of 50 years will have fully elapsed since the begin ming of the great civil struggle. This fact shows how few of our veterans remain to celebrate Memorial Day, and it is call to the Sons and Daughters of Veterans to assemble for the pur- pose of preserving the memory of the heroes of the war and of the cause for which they fought.
 There are blossoms in abundance now, and the graves of the dead should be covered today with the best that nature affords. One day in 365 should be devoted to the men who fought for the Confederacy, and there is no more appropriate way of doing this than by covering the ground where they lie with the brightest, sweetest blossoms of the year
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
Soldiers of the South

The New Orleans Picayune presents facts and figures showing that the great struggle of the south in 1861-65 was not slaveholders war-that it was not fought out by slaveowners in defense of their private property rights. There is no truth in the state ment that the non-slaveholding ele- ment of the population took little or no interest in the military movements The Picayune summons to it's aid the figures of the population of the war period, as follows:
 The population of the republic, as shown by the census of 1s60 was, in round num- bers, 300O0,000. Of this number 20, GOO, ,OOO or two-thirds, of the whole were in the northern States, and 100000, or one third, in the south. Of these 100000 6,O00,0O0 were whites and 100000 were negro slaves. Of these 6o00,O0O whites, half were females, and the other half, or 100000, were males. Of these males all who were able-bodied and between the ages of IS and 45 years were subject to military duty. These numbered about 100000. From first to last there were about 600,O0O men in the Confederate army, which was more than one-half the whole military strength of the south. When we come to the slave owners they did not number more than 10000 There were 2O00 persons in the south who owned as many as 100 slaves each and 100000 who owned from one slave up to 100. It was a well-known fact that wealthy men were able to keep out of the army. while poor men could not
 A law exempted from military duty all who owned as many as 20 slaves, and the Confederate regiments were
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
THE WANDERER.

By Eugene Field. Upon a mountain height far from the sea
 I found a shell, And to my listening ear this lonely thing Ever a song of ocean seemed to sing, Ever a tale of ocean seemed to tell. How came this shell upon the mountain
 height?
 An, who can say Whether there dropped by some too care
 less hand Whether there cast when oceans swept
 the land,
 Ere the Eternal had ordained the day? Strange, was 1t not? Far from it's native
 deep
 One song 1t sang; Saog oe the awful mysteries of the tide Sang or the misty sea, profound and
 wide
 Ever with echoes of the ocean rang. And, as the shell from the mountain height
 Sang of the sea, So do I ever-leagues and leagues away So do I ever-wandering where I may Sing, my home! sing. o my homet
 of thee.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25

filled as a rule by farmers boys from the country and by clerks and mechan- ics from the towns.
 "The young men of the south" adds the Picayune, may not in many cases have had any very clear ideas of the causes that led up to the war, but they fully understood what it was to have their country invaded by an enemy, and they knew that they were fighting for their homes, their country and all that men hold dear. It makes no diff ference by whom or for what the war was started. Just as soon as there was any invasion of a southern state by a northern army, the best and bravest of southern manhood took the first arms in reach and stood for the defense of their homes and country"
 The slaveowners did not do the fight ing, and this fact should not be lost sight of, The great body of the south ern fighting force consisted of non- shareholders, and the children in the schools should be so taught, for the contrary statement is not founded on known facts.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
PADEREWsKrS DEPARTURE.

From the Brooklyn Eagle.
 If Paderewski is really suffering from piano players cramp instead of bad houses, that fact may account for some of the singular noises which came from his piano during his recent recital in Brooklyn. His admirers at the time were inclined to credit the disturbance to the piano he was playing, but it may be that the savage preliminary thumps which he gave to his helpless instrument before beginning his seec- tions, were due to an effort to knock the cramp out of his hands. They ought to have succeeded and perhaps they did, for in the quieter Chopin numbers later he played beautifully.
 But the prospects for his future are more interesting than an autopsy on one of the most singular exhibitions of the concert stage. Grave doubts are expressed that PaderewsKi will ever re- turn here as ap ianist. If that prove to be true, we have witnessed one of the most remarkable demonstrations of per- sonality and of virtuosity in the whole history of music.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
 6 HIRTY years ago the worlds
 \0 wheat production was about
 2,OO0, 900 bushels a year. It now averages about 20O0O0,00O bushels. As this increase Is out of proportion to the increase of the worlds population, it is evident that wheat as a food substance is displacing other commodities previous ly used. Increase in production in this country has been a little more rapid than the average of world increase. The American crop of 30 years ago averaged about 3O00O0,000 bushels, and 1t is now about 600,0Oo0OO.
 The variation of conditions from year to year makes impossible any exact state ment, but the figures of the last five years show a large decline in the percen- tage of American wheat exported From 1880 to 1SS9-about 30 per cent of the total crop was exported and from 1890 to 1899 about B per cent. The average of the last five years has been about one-half that of the preceding 25 years. While the maximum of possible acreage has not yet been reached there is little or no proba- bility that the acreage, if it is at all ex- tended, will increase as rapidly as it did in earlier years when new railways were opening new areas to settlement and cul- tivation. In fact, the largest acreage in the record was that of 1901, when 49, S95 514 acres were planted. The year 1903 fol- lowed, with 49, 464,967 acres. The figures for 1907 drop to 45,211 GOO. It is conceivable, though little probable, that another ten years may see SO 100000 acres in wheat The greater probability is that the in crease in acreage will not keep pace with the increase in domestic demand and that
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
WORKED IN THEIR SLEEP.

From Answers
 Some folks work as hard when asleep as when awake. Hence the business mans phrase. well, I'll sleep over it.''
 Robert Louis Stevenson was a wonder full dreamer, and could dream in sequence. He would continue his dream one night from the place he left off the night pre- vious In this way he dreamed a great deal of "Jekyl and Hyde"
 The Marquis de Condorcet, the French mathematician, solved while asleep problem in integral calculus which had puzzled him for days. Dante Is said to have dreamed "The Divine Comedy"
 Voltaire composed the first canto of the "Henriade" while he was asleep. Ideas occurred to me-" he said, fin spite of myself and in which l had no part what ever."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
WRITER'S CONCEPT.

From the Washington Post.
 A brilliant American writer, better known for the blaze of his metaphors than for the weight of his matter, has recently collected his personal impress sions of some of the literary men of the nineteenth century and after. Among the egoists of a period noted for the glorification of self in the work of geniuses he has included Stendhal, Merimee, Baudelaire, Halvey, Nietzsche, Isben, and some others. One wonders why he left out Edmund Rostand, the most ridiculous egoist of the lott
 Of course, the compiler did not refer to personal egotism, but to the more spiritual expression of the ego which dominates the works of certain au- thors, as contrasted with the universal spirit that inspired such writers as Shakespeare, Goethe, and Browning. But there is a gospel of personal van- ity to which nearly all professional writers are addicted, and Rostand is the apostle of the faith. Nay, he is it's living prophet. Recently. having sold the house he had been living in to a mere bourgeois of banker, he sealed up the door through which he had been accustomed to enter it and compelled the new owner to build another en- trance It was his contention that the doorway hallowed by his footsteps should never be desecrated by the feet of one less a genius, and he even had a tablet erected upon the sealed door, way which should announce to all pos glorious Edmond Rostand. Such Is the lofty conceit of the man whom Catnlle Mendes called the new archangel' Of literature, and for whom Sardou, and even the shrewd- -witted, sensible Co., quelin, professed something akin to rev erence.
 Personal vanity of this sublime and asinine degree can perhaps be met with only In France, but even i;i America our literary folk are afflicted With 1t in no small measure Why should the hack rhymster regard himself Of more worth than the humble drug clerk-if any one knows an humble drug clerk? Why should the author of ''best seller look upon his feat and upon his features as being of more importance than those of the successful keeper of grocery book, after all. done anything for which his horn should be exalted beyond that of the man. ager of a great business?
 | And yet the literary lions the earth
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
AMERICAN ADVERTISING ABROAD.

From the New York World.
 Shortly after the recent opening of the new American department store in Lon don the London Times had page adver- tisement of the new departure printed in Italian, French, German, Japanese, Span ish, Turkish, Irish, Welsh, Portuguese, Russian, Danish, English, German, Aus trian, Chinese, Swedish, Belgic French, Norwegian, Swiss, Yiddish, Indian, Dutch, Roumanian, Greek, Arabic and Esperanto. Each adlet occupied the center of a small shield. surmounted with the arms of the respective countries appealed to and the whole ;Sined together artistically with heraldic devices with the building and the name of the new store as the base of ane Whoie.
 Gais uaiG ersal salutation was followed T. successive issues of the Times by full page and sometimes double-page adver- tiseneAt, not eouched in the usual Amer jean phrases, but giving emphasis to the spac!ousness, accommodations, etc., of the new store. Subsequent page and double page advertisements in the best literary style of the advertiser informed the public that there were rest and reception rooms, library, silence room, national rooms. with registers for visitors, and a first-afd ward, with trained nurse always in at tendance, presumably to care for the in- jured in bargain rushes Even these aids to shopping, it seems, are not sufficient, and the management announced that there were also railway, steamship and theatre ticket offices, a parcel and cloakroom, a bureau de change for cashing letters of credit, an information office where all reasonable questions could be answered. post, telegraph and money -order ser vice, luncheon hall where the best food could be procured at reasonable prices. and, perhaps as a special concession to the man shopper, "a luxurious smoking lounge for gentlemen and a delightful tea garden for al fresco hospitality"
 All this is but an expansion and adap- tation of the American department-store methods to London requirements, the full blown flower, so to speak, of American advertising.
 Will it pay? That is a question for the proprietor, who presumably knows what he is about. And if he fails to attract the solid Bfitisher with these alluring de- vices, who else may expect to succeed? Advertising as a fine art certainly cannot eo much further
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25

T am glad to know that the manage ment of East Lake has decided not to allow any fishing there this year" said a fisherman yesterday.
 "The lake was drained last winter and as nearly all the fish in the lake are small it would be a pity to allow them to be caught in large numbers. MT Bur nett president of the company, tells me that he has arranged with the bureau of fisheries of the government to restock the lake shortly. and by next spring the lake will be full of good sized fish.
 T enjoy fishing at the lake, but right now all the fish are too small to afford much sport. It always does fishing place good to have the fish protected for one or two seasons. l thoroughly in- dorse. therefore. the action of Mir. Bur nett and others interested in the lake"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
The Terminal Station.

'The new Terminal station is the great est and best advertisement for Birming ham that could possibly be devised" said pr. Cooper Curtis of the United States bureau of animal industry, who is one of the party of department experts with Captain Hobson in the Sixth district, and who, with the other members of the party spent last night in Birmingham.
 "The station Is in keeping with the ad- Vaneed progressiveness of the growing city and will serve Birmingham until it has a population of 2h00AO.n
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
MONKEY A PICkPOCkET.

From the New Yorw Tribune.
 One of the most singular captures ever effected by the Paris police was made re- gently when they arrested an acrobat named Miguel Androval, who is attached to travelling circus playing near Paris. In a large establishment the man re- quested to be shown someNjewerly. While he was examining it the detectives ob- servel the head of tiny monkey emerge from Androvais coat pocket Then the monkeys paw shot out, and while the salesman's attention was diverted the anil nal seized several valuable rings and withdrew to its hiding place. Tests made after the arrest proved the monkey to be an accomplished pickpocket and shop liter