davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

I riers and toward the raising of alfalfa. | He has developed a fine river trade in the hay, using the boats and reaching the logging camps up and down tho War rior His trouble is one quite common to every part of the state-the roads are so fearfully bad in winter that the crop cannot be hauled to market with profit. The opening of the rivers all the way down to Mobile will afford a market by water, and when the boats go all the way up to Birmingham-well, the dreamer could draw a pretty picture here and weave fancy that would startle the sleeper himself.
 Out near old Erie; where DeSoto crossed the Warrior in his great march across the state, MT. s. J. Monette has planted a number of large fields, the sup ply from which finds ready takers among the neighboring farmers
 In Perry, near the little village of New bern, and just across the Hale county line. V. M Haynes has put over 200 acres in alfalfa that he sells readily in the Birmingham market at a very nice mar gin of profit after paying a freight rate of S2.B0 per ton. Some of his fields are five or six years old and growing better than ever Almost adjoining the Haynes fields are those of MT. James Jones, like wise embracing some 200 acres and yield ing to their owner the same handsome profit. Down at Uniontown. in the very heart of the canebrake, General Mumford has one of the best hay farms in the state Over 1000 acres have been seeded around the town The work here is large- ly stimulated by the Agricultural Experf- ment station maintained by the state. This land is one of the finest sections in the country for the growing of alfalfa and 1t is only a question of time until Uniontown will not be slave to King Cotton: for like every other king, cotton makes even its richest subjects abject slaves of their master and lord. At De- mopolis. in Marengo. Capt. John c. Webb, farmer and capitalist, has just begun the culture of alfalfa. and when more of his vast acres are seeded the Demopolis market will be supplied at its back door. By way of parenthesis, alfalfa sells in the Demopolis market for s2o ton.
 Altogether the introduction of alfalfa culture into this part of the state where the lands are suitable, is opening up new industry for the farmer. Johnson grass has always grown here in pro- fusion, and has heretofore been the great hay crop. but the superiority of alfalfa over other kinds of hay is too marked to retard It's introduction. It Is claimed that horses can oe worked all the year round and fed on this hay alone. Personally, I know planters who do not advance corn to negro renters after the first cutting of alfalfa. The money for the crop begins to come in in June and keeps coming until frost. Every farmer can use all sorts of money nthe summer time. After the first year the expense is small. the work required little, and the saving in labor wonderful. Here Is the expense account of very careful man whose helds were 1b miles away from the railroad; Cost of cutting, haul ine, ba11ng, and putting on tho cars. 3AA
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01
ROUNDUP OF BEARS.
Necessary In Colorado, cattlemen Say,
 Because Bruln Is Killing Stock
From the Denver Post.

From the Denver Post.
 The annual roundup of bears is on in Routt county. Albert Whitney, Steve El- kins and several other bear huntsu of note have undertaken to rid tho cattle ranges of Routt county of the bears which are killing the colts and calves in large numbers Eight bears have been taken so far during the hunt.
 The headquarters of the hunters is at Phippsburg, and from that point they threw out a circle, beating the timber in the vicinity of the places where dead calves and colts are found The party of hunters has about 50 bear dogs. the pack being mostly from the kennels of El- kins of Mancos. Col. and of Whitney of Phippsburg.
 The stockmen say that they are losing at least yl000 week by allowing the bears to live off their colts and calves. which are so small at this time of the year that bears easily pull them down Two skins sent in from the hunters camp are of the finest furs that have been seen in Denver for many years. Ono is off brown bear and the other of a black. Each Is Q glossy pelt. full furred and in perfect condition At this sea. son a bears skin is in prime condition as he does not shed uuti1 July.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

binations than all other managers com bined. Their theatres are Independents" and they have large Canadian connections where Shubert's companies amuse and instruct their patrons from season to sea- son.
 It Is a hazardous business, the theatr- cal Who has not wept over the financial failures and the unfortunate disasters that made wreck of that splendid and brilliant genius, Richard Brissley Sheri- dan? I have a positive aversion for a man who will hiss even a bad actor. frequently go to see horribly butchered melodrama I have seen ham actors'' in such plays, men whose breakfast turned on a single hand" and l have lent many of them that hand.
 I know how 1t is. Many a letter that I have writ. and to which I gave all my little thought, has been returned to me with courteous insolence and transpar- ent mendacity by managing editors.
 One night Forrest was rebukfng "supe" for not doing the thing as the great actor required. The supe ex- claimed If I could do 1t as you show me how to do it. do you suppose would be supe? No, I'd be starr
 And that is how l feel when I see a bad actor I give him a hand If possi- ble.
 MT. Rhinock, as a purveyor of theatri- cal amusement. is public benefactor. Every youth of intelligent mind ought to read John Addison Symonds.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

Certainly the plant has received atten- ton as a crop only within the last 1s years, and the oldest field. planted for commercial purposes, cannot be much over 10 years old.
 Alfalfa grows on a rolling prairie lime land, or on well-drained black cedar lands. In West Alabama the counties of Marengo, Sumter Greene, Pickens, Hale and Perry. possess thousands of acres that will prove highly suitable Not all prairie soil will do. nor indeed all lime lands. To grow the crop proftably the hest lands are required, and 1t will be re- munerative only as pasture if put on any other. However, no better measure can be found that field of alfalfa, as IL ai- lords grazing the year round.
 The first year is the most expensive. The n,ant is a perennial and only has to be seeded about every six or seven year D. The nlowing and breaking of the iano is somewhat similar to that requiieu ioi other crops Seed cost from $S 10 slz per bushel. and a bushel will SOW an acre UT an acre and a half. Of course, there IS the barn that must be erected III tho field, machinery for cutting and panhs, and the actual expense of marketins, ous this expense is not comparable to that oI raising almost any other crop. The crop can be cut, if put on good land, nve or six times year. An acre will average a ton to the cutting, on very fertiIe iano more or about six tons year. Multipiy 6 by 15 the price per ton, and the average income is about $90 per acre. Fully twice as much as the best cotton land will yield, and at about one-fourth the cost Of productiop
 Some of the growers claim that the lands in Alabama must be changed every seven or eight years. Others seem to think that good land will prove profitable much longer. One grower told me that he could use the same land forever, but he was speaking in a fgurative. rather than literal way
 Alfalfa is a nitrogen-gathering crop, and enriches the soil every year. Cotton and corn grow well after 1t. and when ever for one reason or another the land is turned back into these crops the effect of the alfalfa can easily be seen. When the hay is fed to cattle, government sta- tistics demonstrate that ton of alfalfa is worth $9 in fertilizer to the land.
 Many a man has read Maud Muller" without appreciating the beauty of that maidens task, and without understanding the envy of the Judge, but the spirit of the having was certainly with the writer as he went to take photograph of one of the fields of north Sumter. The negroes were there, but one looked in vain for Maud and the Judge. The darkies had left the corn and cotton for the week, and were busy with pitch and fork. The mower clattered away in one part of the field, and in another, the rakes were busy piling up the new-made shocks. The aroma of new mown hay filled the air and made it sweet with its freshness. The owner looked around the farm with an air of prosperity. as if he were al- ready counting the dollars, and ex- claimed; ''Some day am going to take
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

~ IxTy years ago and more the black
 belt of Alabama was the most pros o porous part of the state. The planters there were the legislators, gov ernors, the senators-the leaders or the commonwealth A terrific struggle came alons-quite well remembered by few survivors who happened to be present. and these erstwhile leaders found the system by which their leadership had been made possible completely over turned But the master clung to the slave; the planter held on to his crop. Cotton had been king; cotton was still king; cotton would always be king. Shim- mering cotton fields with singing darkies elow-moving mules, not too slow for the dark plowmen; women with great baskets of white upon their heads and little pick aninnies playing by the row side on rough cotton ouilts-all these things were the inheritance from their forefathers and the sons of the black belt were loath to give them up. The negro, the mule and cotton continued to be their main support long wears after there were no slaves.
 The result. wherever negroes and cot 4on have been the sole dependencies. has always been the same. The consumption has been as great, often times greater, than the production, and the planter has gone more deeply into debt. year after year, usually to some land syndicate, financed by northern capital.
 This old planter of the reconstruction days is an interesting man. He possesses three characteristics of the Yan- kee. love of the negro, and fondness for cotton. "Why, sir," he will tell you, .'if I had my way about 1t. would put dynamite under New England and blow her into h--.'' And he means just what he says. On principle he stands by the democratic party, even as he stood by It in the dark days of negro domination But tho younger sons of this section have grown tired of negroes and mortgages. They have looked about, caught some thing of the spirit of modern methods, and found that the soil is suited to the growth of hundred other things than cotton. The spirit of diversihcation has gone abroad in the land, and while cotton remains the great staple, other means are being used for the bringing in Of money to the farm. The great stretches of level acres, filled with heavy growth of Johnson grass, are afeording food for numerous herds of cattle. The valleys and sloughs are again being filled with corn. and attention is being paid to the smaller crops that yield ready cash in- come.
 Here in west Alabama 1t mas been ols- covered that in many places the lime lands are especially adapted to the growth of that splendid hay crop, alfalfa, and its introduction has been extremely rapid. Just how and just when alfalfa was in- troduced into the section have not been able to learn. Probably nobody knows just how and when. Some citizens claim to have seen it growing wild on the streets and in the yards of Greensboro, in Hale county, long years ago, but tho memory of tho writer, dating from moro |euoent times. cannot recall such sight
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

really engaged: and that consequently my private prayers seemed too often to be dead formalities. He advised me to try praying aloud; and he stated, as his reason for this advice, that when we put our petitions Into audible words we are much more likely to fix our minds upon what we are asking for. am sat isfied that he was right; and I have found benefit from following his suggestion
 My brother preacher! you who have taken "senior Creek at the theological seminary you have found 1t no easy task, even with the help of Tischendorf and Wfner to read a chapter in the Greek Testament critically" so as to satis- fly John A. Broadns, but If you have not found 1t harder to read your English New Testament devotionally so as to arouse 8 sin-sick soul to a hungering and a thirsting after righteousness, then try 1t.
 3. The treasurer humbly asks for aid. Real humility is a sensible, practical thing If a man tells you about his hu- mility, till you think of Uriah Heep, you may be pretty sure that he is very proud of the humility which he imagines he has, or else that he is putting on decep-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

very name delights the heart of your Ken lucky democrat. In rivalry with Berks county, Pennsylvania, and Holmes coun- ty. Ohio, 1t then had the banner for the largest democratic vote per 1000 of population. It is yet democratic to the core. Twice 1t saved the day for John c. Breckenridge That princely man. return practice law, to wind up his recently dead fathers estate, volunteered in a Ken lucky regiment and went to Mexico, where he greatly distinguished himself for valor and conduct He returned to Lexington, and the democrats nominated him for Congress in the Ashland district, Henry Clay's home, where the whigs had long been victorious Leslie Combs, a dis tinguished soldier of 1872, was his whig competitor. owen county did nobly, gave Breckenridge an immense majority, and he was then chosen in the district by the slenderest of majorities, about a dozen. No wonder he named his newborn son Owen County Breckenridge. Two years later he defeated Governor Letcher in the same district, and again Owen county saved him by a thread.
 It Hes in the territory where the blue grass and the red bud kiss and before Owen county produced the finest "cutting leaf'' in the union. It is yet a fine to- bacco region and one-half blue grass. More than 50 years ago the democrats gave 1t the name of Sweet Owen," and 1t yet retains 1t.
 If was in "Sweet Owenr at Owenton
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

tive show Of the humility which he knows he ought to have. But the truly humble man does not parade his humility, he acts humbly. He is willing to receive instrue- ton from an unpretending teacher. Though he can afford to ride in chariot of state. he does not despise the poor preacher who trudges on afoot. He does not hesitate to confess his ignorance. and he asks guidance in his pursuit of the truth.
 wonder that I have never heard ser- mon from the text which tells us that the meek shall inherit the earth. The theme is surely a fruitful one. and it's discussion would naturally lead a thought ful preacher to insist upon some momen- tous scripture truths which. in these mod ern days, we are sorely tempted to ignore. The preacher who can instin some meek ness into the people of this fast. furious. fussy age will be a public benefaotor. l have no doubt that the treasurer found in the Gospel of Christ all that the earth could furnish that was worth living for, and his weakness opened the way for his reception of that gospel No man ever in- herfts the earth until he learns its great
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

per ton Where tho market is nearer the expense Is reduced to something like $2.41. It is claimed that alfalfa can be grown with profit and sold for s2 a ton.
 The great difficulty with small growers Is that the yare unable to put up the barns required and purchase the machin- cry necessary for handling the crop. This fact has prevented the seeding of hun dreds of acres and limited the extent of many farms to home consumption only.
 The experience of every grower has been that he cannot make alfalfa and cotton go together. Hay must be saved when 1t is ready, and like time and the tide, 1t waits for no man. Cotton always needs attention, and the cotton usually suffers. The outcome is going to be the removal of the negro from the sections that are so fortunate as to be suitable for the growing of alfalfa The white man will take charge and begin the rais- ing of stock along with hay. When that has been done and the negro removed brighter day will have dawned and the way to prosperity will have been opened up. I have failed to find a single planter anywhere who will not rejoice when he learns that tho time has come for the negro to get out. They are tired and weary with the struggle to own lands. for ownership is a struggle. An estate of 1000 acres ought to be a splendid piece of property, but there are planters and fair ly good business men. too. who have that much and more, and yet, by means of advances and negroes they arc in tighter straits all the year than the mon without a foot of land
 Such condition ought not to exist. must not exist, for 1t will ruin tho finest land that God ever made
 Fortunately, very fortunately. busy Bir- mingham and the district around her are of easy access to every county and the very top of the market can always be se- cured for all the hay that Is raised. This means, of course that the blaok-belt grower can either undersell the foreign shipper or make a much larger margin of profit Freight rates are not over $2.50 a ton from any point. and the time con- sumed in reaching the market is very short. An order received one day can be delivered the next day.
 Like many another thing, the alfalfa crop Is not the only value in itself. Wherever there Is @ large alfalfa field one can always find largo herd of cattle. Cattle-rsisfng pays when the winter for age is secured on the farm, and with plenty or forage the farmer IS certainly going to have something to consume it. The alfalfa sections arc becoming stock raising sections, and the cattle industry is becoming a large and profitable one. Then, too, the boil weevil has begun his march across the country eastward, and is making for the black belt of Alabama as his first point of attack Already he has reached the west Mississippi line. and his coming can be delayed but year or two. Alfalfa lands cannot be injured by the inroads of this enemy of cotton, and those sections whore hay and cattle can be depended upon are not going to
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

that true religion is an individual thlns. Crowds may be converted, but they are converted as individuals. When nation shall be born in day, sach individual composing the nation must be born for himself. One of tho most striking characteristics of the r. ligion of Jesus Christ is the immense importance which it attached to the individual soul
 2. The treasurer Is in a promising frame of mind. He had taken the trou- ble to go all the way to Jerusalem in order to engage in public worship. It does not appear that he went with the expectation of hearing a sermon from a distinguished metropolitan preacher, nor, indeed, that he expected to hear preaching at all. And just here let me respectfully ask my Bap list brethren if there is not among us a strong tendency to underrate the im- portanee of worship to allow the ser mon to monopolize our interest How often we find many member of the congregation listless and entirely in alternative during the whole of what we somewhat suggestively call the preliminary exercises" as if the ser
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

to walk off to the south along that lone ly road. Luke, however, does not favor us with any reflections upon the state of Philips mind on that occasion. What an admirable opportunity for moralizing he here throws awayl What modern religious biographers would ever have missed it7
 But while Luke gives us no hint of what the evangelist felt. he tells us quite distinctly what Philip did-he obeyed-and in obeying he soon found an explanation of the mysterious or der. Obedience often brings light. God had prepared an audience for the lone- ly preach CT; and in that chariot, travel ing through the desert, Ethiopia is stretching forth her hands unto God. Upon the perplexed soul of that foreign nobleman. struggling with the diff culties of mysterious prophecy, the Sun of Righteousness is about to shed his glorious life-giving tlsams.
 We preachers are often too prone to underrate the importance of the indi- vidual. We are inspired by the great congregation, and depressed by the small company; and 1t is important for both preachers and people to remember
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

HHH book which we call 'The Acts
 of the Apostles" is a missionary
 magazine. made up mostly of ao- counts of revivals of religion and the conversion of individuals. If we con sider the brevity of the narrative as consider the brevity of the narrative as a whole we may well be impressed with the circumstance that so large a part of 1t Is devoted to detailed notices of in- dividual cases of conversion.
 In the eighth chapter we have an ac- count of remarkable revival in the city of Samaria, and this is followed by ciroumstantiai narrative of the conver- sion of Queen Candace's treasurer It is not my purpose here to give critical discussion of this latter passage (Acts 8:2s-Ss) but to note some practical les sons to be derived from the story.
 l. An evangelist, who has been preach ing with marked success in glorious re- vival in a city, is suddenly ordered off on solitary Journey along an unfre- quented road through a wilderness. have often wondered how the revival ist'' felt when in the midst of his won derful success in the awakened city he was peremptorily ordered to leave, and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01
THE CONVERSION OF A NOBLEMAN-By J. C. Hden D. D.

ness and it's littleness. and these can be learned by none but the meek. He who regards this world as a theatre upon which to display his own greatness may. indeed. be
 "A poor player That struts and frets his hour upon
 the stage
 And then is heard no more.'
 It was wrecked and wretched ambition of the earth, earthy-that caused bril- liant mind to call human life
 ia tale
 Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"
 The meek simplicity of the Ethiopian nobleman taught him that life meant more than this. He opened his heart honestly, and received Christ Into it. and then all things were his. because he was Christ's.
 Reader, are you honestly anxious to find Gods truth? Then learned cavils and critical" discussions will hardly help you much, but an honest, meek simple-minded submission to the authority of Jesus Christ will make you an heir of God, and an inheritor of the Kingdom of heaven.