davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17

eommittee-a tariff fuller of jobs and therefore of taxes levied on the many for the benefit of few than any that had preceded it. When this tariff is fully explained on the stump and in a free press. and when the effects of it's rates are felt the disintegration of a solid north may go on rapidly.
 The sole hope of the republicans is that Aldrich-Cannon rates will be for gotten in a general revival of pros perity. A boom is needed to drive out of the minds of the people the ef- fleets of the woolen schedule and every other schedule is stuffed with schemes to promote the interests of other trusts and monopolies.
 It is the solid north that Is to be broken, not the solid south Mr. Taft in his good natured way is not en- gagged at present so much in breaking the solid south as he is in an ef- fort to keep the solid north from go- ing to pieces The insurgent republi- cans are not seeking the favor of AL drich or Cannon. They are standing by their guns and this of Itself shows how deep republican discontent is in northern states. The President reads in 1t the danger signal. He knows what his promises were last summer, and he fears an indignant vote next year when the new tariff will be sub jected to a popular vote. The solid north is in danger of disruption. not the solid south
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
M0nrOeVllle'S Tragedy

The Smith-Shirley feud of Monroe county has resulted in the death at the mouth of pistol of a state sen ator of Alabama. The feud was one of the Kentucky sort between the two families and 1t has been going on at least five years. Senator Bayles be- longed to neither the Smith nor the Shirley family, but as an attorney he took the side of the Shirleys, and he stood ready at all times to talk for them, to swear for them and if need be to shoot for them. Two of the Shir- leys are in the penitentiary serving term of four years and the effort to secure from the board of pardons their release led to the tragedy at Monroe vile on Wednesday afternoon.
 Feuds cannot, perhaps, be legislated out of existence, but pistol toting can be and no more important problem will come before the special session of the legislature. A bill has been favorably reported in the Georgia leg islature, now in session, requiring man who desires to become a walking arsenal to register with the ordinary, take out a license, and give bond of $100 to keep the peace. A bond of $500 would be better still. Rigid en- forcement of the proposed Georgia law would reduce the flip-pocket habit to small proportions, for the man who carries a gun shuns, first of all, pub licity. He is secretive. He awaits an encounter in sly manner when he may deal out resentment at the mouth of his pistol. The Atlanta Journal thinks the pending bill in Georgia should be amended so that every pis- tol toter would have to be tagged. The more publicly the fewer shooting brawls. and Alabama today would not mourn the loss of a state senator if a way had been found to stop pistol tOtinq
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
JULY IN OREGON.
cortland Oregonian.

From the Portland OregOnian.
 July is the month of summer prime and dazzling glory, like Caesar whose name it bears. It Is a stern time, when June brides and grooms suffer their first post honeymoon spat; when the thorny black berry follows the scratches strawberry; when the dairy and food commissioner posts after the cowman whose milk sours over night! when the mother cat deserts her offspring. the mosquitoes invade the evening piazza, the cook leaves the hot kitchen for her vacation, the farmer be- gins the first heavy harvest toil-the hay ing-and the householder must stand guard with the hose against brown spots on the lawn. Even though it rain and save sprinkling 1t will not save the water rent. The month Is hard on family peace. One waltens in the morning to hear MT. and Mrs. Sparrow, under the caves, scold- ing for dear life
 Yet Caesars month has peace periods, like the quiet after noisy Fourth. No matter how warm the sun reaches this Oregon country from the hot plains along Snake river. it always cools off when it sinks into the Pacific ocean at night, and then we need blanket before morning. This is the time when cherries, currants and logan berries are coming to perfec- tion and the savor of these fruits in winted jars float out of the kitchen. It is just beginning the season for men and squir- rels to show their wisdom, for "he that gathereth in summer is wise son." The seaside and the mountains welcome the T,,1io h,-;r ba matchmakers for next bridal June. Thus we see that July means joy to the jus tice of the peace and the preacher. It is the season when men have serious in- tentions. Last spring they were flckle- minded.
 For men, like butterflies, Show not their mealy wings but to the
 summer.
 Mark you. July does not let the divorce court sit to out the bonds. It cares not whether the name be squaw creek or Lily creek, it fills them brim full of trout wa ter from the melted bosom of Three Sis- ters and Mt. Hood. Never does 1t shine so hot but 1t makes cool shade and blows upon 1t with the north wind that trades Arctic cold for equator heat and later on fetches the aurora borealis to tinge the Aples of Hood river and Yakima and Rogue river.
 We all like July, sweaty, brawny. stren- uous, peevish, though 1t be. We all like 1t so much that never yet have we allowed a poet to sing between it's 81 dawns and sunsets. When one starts to tune his Tyre we say. "Aw. cut 1t out" for if we
 
 and statement one, why waste time with Homers and omars7 Tho great Julius could not be honored with grander glories than these of the iceman period in the Oregon country.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
pr. HandleY,s Vacation.

The Rev. Dr. L. s. Handley. pastor of the Central Presbyterian church, is one of those of our older citizens who spends his summer vacation right here at home.
 My church has given me the usual vacation" said pr. Handley, but l am taking 1t without leaving town. I am preaching every Sunday morning but am holding no service at night. In this way l keep my congregation together during the heated term, without asking the mem- bers to come out for an evening service. Those who feel that they need rest stay at home on Sunday night, while others of my congregation take the opportunity of hearing a sermon in some sister church.
 q am feeling very well this summer. Birmingham Is especially beautiful at this season of the year and I fully enjoy being here.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
The Extra Session Cali

The Governors proclamation con- vening an extra session of the legisla- tion is full of eccentricities. The Gov ernor asks the legislature, for ex- ample. to pass compulsory educa. tion bill, and yet he neglects to ask it to submit a constitutional amend ment empowering the school districts by local taxation to provide additional accommodations for a doubled num- Der of pupils. He ignores altogether the Denver platform both in the re- spect of an income tax and in respect to the direct election of United States senators.
 And the Governor makes biennial sessions of the legislature the first and leading feature of his proclama- tion. The state has had four sessions in three years and still he thinks the number of regular sessions should be doubled. He thinks this should be done although the people recently ve- toed the proposition.
 It is difficult to say what the bi. ennial proposition in a list of 65 has behind it-what 1t has up its sleeve" It is a reflection upon the recent vote of the people. It Is a surprise, for no popular demand for it had appeared in any section of the state from any considerable body of citizens-fron any one in fact
 Nine of the 65 propositions in the call relate to the liquor question which the Governor desires to see in corporated in the constitution. This would be unwise, for all radical legis lation that can be enforced only with difficulty should be left where modi flcation would be easy and feasible Until the problem has been sifted and l placed on a satisfactory basis il should be left where modification can be applied to 1t. In no other way can the issue be carried to final and satisfactory conclusion. To put 1t ir the constitution while it is in an in choate and tentative state would be the height of unwisdom and the legis lature will be apt to say that statutes on that subject are ample at present whatever may be best in the long run
 The extra session will have enough work to do in any event and its ses sion is confined to 30 sitting days These 30 days may cover as many weeks, but the people desire shor, session and final adjournment by or before September 1 will be ex pected.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Auuust a Pleasant Month.

''The national convention of the Knights of Columbus which meets In Mobile the first week in August will be largely at tended and the delegates and visitors will receive a hearty welcome" said Maj. W. F. Tebbetts, collector of the port who was in Birmingham last night on his way home from a short visit to Anniston.
 The temperature in Mobile in August is not excessive and as for mosquitoes they are not so much in evidence at this time of the year as they are earlier in the summer The fact is that Mobile in Au- gust is comparatively free from mosqui- toes. All in all, then, the Knights of Co., lumbus selected very pleasant month for their big gathering"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
eoETHALs cURTAILs LUxURIEs

From Colon, R. F.. Letter to the New
 Orleans Times-Democrat.
 Colonel Goethals recently decided that the expense of maintaining horses and carriages for the private use of canal of- floials was too great. and he therefore issued an order to the quartermaster to sell all equipment except such as was ab- solutely necessary for the use of the com mission. It has long been a question why certain officials should be allowed to have expensive equipages for driving to and from their offices and for their own personal benefit, while the ordinary employee either had to pay for coach out of his own pocket or use his legs. In fact, 1t is said that In certain eases a great deal of jealousy has been aroused because ladies thought that their hus- bands did not have quite so fine carriages as other ladies' husbands. In addition. this transportation was not exactly evenly divided in some instances new arrivals being immediately furnished with car riages, while older officials in point of service did not have this luxury. At any rate, Colonel Goethals Is being generally commended for cutting down this useless waste of money, especially by the rank and file, who look upon the move with a quiet chuckle of mirth.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
NEW YORK HOTEL PRICES.

of needing the eccenticities of patrons said that one night in the restaurant young gentleman who had brought sev- eral friends to dine, asked for pineapple a la something or other, and was sad dened when informed that there was none of 1t left. He sent for the head waiter and stated that he had pineapple served in that particular way one even- ing and was so delighted with 1t that he had told his friends and that there would be keen disappointment if this dish could not be had
 "The head waiter came to me-" went on the assistant manager "and explained that there was no pineapple left in the kitchen, and no way of gratifying this gentlemans wish. I immediately sent an attendant to a nearby stand for a large pineapple, which cost 25 cents. I took this into the kitchen, and had 1t prepared in the style wanted, which did not take long. The young host was then informed that the dish he wanted was being speci- ally prepared for him. He was pleased. because his importance in the estimation of the party was restored Well, he paid s1 per portion for that 25-cent pineapple, and everyone in the party, including him. self, said that 1t was worth the money'
 This little incident. illustrating how 25 cents can be speedily transformed into s5 or $6, gives an inkllng of how the ex- pensive hotels prosper.
 At hotel on Broadway, the manage ment of which is always endeavoring to get new ideas for attracting people with plenty of money. birds-nest soup is served at g plate, and carefully selected fruit from France, with aristocratic names, at the following rates: Peaches, $2 each; golden plums 50 cents each; nectarines. s1.50 each. Melons, which are said to cost ss in Paris. being of a particularly fine kind, are cut into eight slices at this hotel and served for $1 per slice. Paris ian asparagus Is 50 cents a stalk. The management states that 1t makes no profit on these specialties. and indulges in them merely to attract the attention of the rich who like odd or peculiar things The wonder is that people pay such prices.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
PARIS AND BERLIN

the most fascinating scenes of folly on earth.
 Of all the cities that I know Paris stands next to Rome in the number of It's costly and beautiful churches. Yet the purity of the Christian religion has made little impression upon public sentiment. There is an unblushing frankness and an aesthetic seductiveness of vice in Paris unequaled elsewhere In Christendom. But baseness Is no less debasing on that ac- count While in Paris read two books. one by Richard Harding Davis, the other by some relative of Hopkinson Smith, with a preface by Hopkinson Smith him. self. Both books bubble over with en- thuslasm for the Bohemian life of Paris, the wild, indecent dances and the shame less nudities. These men represent that large class of Americans who when abroad forget the most sacred traditions of home
 But the Latin Quarter is not all bad by any means. There are hundreds of se- rious young men and women there who live frgually, work hard, cherish high aspirations and accomplish great things. Art Is an essential of human progress and true art is cultivated in Paris. The architectural art that made the Colum- bian exposition of 1893 an epoch in the history of beauty in America came from Parislan education. It was in this strange environment of artistic excellence and bacchanalian frivolity that our own Saint Gaudens acquired his preparation to mako such series of statues of our nations heroes as will be forever one of our chief glories.
 The best part of trip abroad is the getting home. Happiest of all days Is that day when eyes weary of foreign sights rest again upon Liberty light ing the world" and when ears weary of foreign gibberish hear against our famil- far mother tongue.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
Breaking the Solid North

There are fewer articles in north ern newspapers about the breaking of the solid south. They begin to see that it is the solid north which is to do the breaking act, for the rumblings and discontent over the Aldrich-Can- non tariff are distinctly felt. The Is. sue in 1910 and again in 1912 will be the tariff and 1t will not operate to break the solid south, but 1t may readily render pivotal states in the north doubtful until there will nc longer be a solid north.
 Beyond all manner of doubt the cleo tons of the next three years will re late to and turn upon the tariff that ls nov ia tho hands of . c0nfersnee
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
Cost of the Canal

The canal appropriation for the present fiscal year is s33 3.63S,000. The expenditure of this sum will bring the cost of the canal on July 1 next up to $2O4, ,602, ,46s. The isthmian canal commissioners ask for an appropria- ton next winter of $4s,ooo,ooo and this sum would carry the total ex- penditure on July 1, 1911, beyond $25O, 1000 ,0OO.
 The large sum asked for in the next fiscal year is due to rapid work upon the locks. The locks will be pro- pressed in the coming fiscal year to a point where the gates can be placed. These locks call for an immense quan- tity of structural steel and possibly the expenditure in the next fiscal year will be the largest in the history of the canal.
 The entire cost of the canal can be approximated, first assuming that the canal will be opened on January l. 1915, three years and a half after the close of the next fiscal year. The ex penditure in the three years and a half is now estimated at $135, 1000 000 Add that sum to the money already spent or to be spent by July 1, 1911 and we have 3S7,OOO OOO as the total cost of the canal. These are the fig ures of the experts and it is believed these figures are indorsed by Colone Goethals, who knows more about the canal than any other man.
 Public sentiment would deplore an, extravaganza or waste at the isthmus but it undoubtedly desires to see thu ditch dug and the locks built speed fly. No revenue from the national sx
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
From New York letter to the San Fran cisco Chronicle

| From New York letter to the San Fran
 cisco Chronicle
 | N LTHOUGH it is very expensive to W1E maintain a fashionable hotel in
 New York, every one of these huge caravansaries keeps enriching it's proprietor These swell places are numer- ous enough already to cause some wonder as to how, all of them pay; but that they are very profitable there is continual evil denoe. Large as they are, many of them are so crowded at certain periods of the year that extensions and additions have been found necessary, and every now and then plans for another big hotel are an nounced. One of the new hotels, the Ritz-carlton, a History structure, costing s2, ,000,000, the erection of which was be- gun last year, is to be ready for opening in few months. It is at the corner of Madison avenue and Forty-sixth street.
 The breakfast and luncheon checks of one of the fashionable hotels, which were spread before the public in the Howard Gould case, afforded those unable to patronize such costly houses an idea of how the managers succeed financially, de-
 
 were prices which only the wealthy or persons careless as to money would be willing to pay from day to day. A piece of peach pie was priced at 30 cents; one lamb chop at S5 cents; two lamb chops, sf50; half a portion of lima beans. 45 cents; a small cup of coffee, 20 cents; breakfast tea, 45 cents: half cantaloupe, TO cents; broiled bacon. 50 centsi por- tion of Malaga grapes, 60 cents; Camem- bert cheese 40 cents; coffee and cream, 10 cents, and so on. This hotel 1t should be borne in mind. claims that its prices are moderate. compared with those charged in other swell establishments of the kind in this city.
 The number of people who are willing to pay big rates for the satisfaction of staying at these magnificent hotels is amazing. The vanity of human nature operates quite as much as their splendid service in bringing them patronage. The assistant manager of one of them. when speaking the other day about the wisdom
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
1ooo-HoRsEPoWER GAS ENGINES

From Casslers Magazine.
 It Is difficult to say when gas engine becomes large gas engine. few years ago 300 horse power was considered the starting point, then 800 horse power, and now in recent article published In a German paper 1000 horsepow>S seems to be taken as the minimum. The list gives the names of 2S makers, 19 on the conti- nent, four in England. and five in the Uni ted States Altogether 1t adds up total of CPS engines, giving combined output of 1,035,7O9, or more than 100000 horse power in large units.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
About Persons.

Fred W. Mecklenborg of Springfield, O.. was in the city yesterday after closing some large and valuable deals for the supply of red pine lumber for his firm, the E. W. Ross Manufactur- ing company of Springfield.
 Claude Brown, former cashier of the Bank of Arkwright, at Arkwright, in Shelby county, was in the city yester- day. Mr. Brown has retired from the banking business and will probably re- turn to Panama. where he spent several years in the service of the canal com mission. He has been offered his old position with the commission and will probably accept.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
OVERHEARD IN BOSTON.

From Harvard Lampoon.
 First Straphanger-Tm glad the open cars are here.
 Second straphanger-Yes; they are lots cooler.
 First Straphanger-Not that; but ladies never get on when the car Is full, and you don't have to feel cheap if you have a seat all the way. M'l
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
FEED THE MORBID MAN A STEAK

From the New Orleans Daily States.
 They tell of an Atchison girl who thought her heart was broken. She was so convinced of 1t that she began reading up on deadly poisors and cried softly to herself over the thoughts of an early death. At this juncture a friend sent her a box of chocolates. She ate one; life looked a little brighter. She ate another; why not put off that death until next week? She ate third and forget she ever had a trouble. All of which is proof of the claim of an Atchison physi- clan that when people are morbid and unhappy the most effective cure is some thing to eat. No one. he says, can long for death while engaged in chewing some thing palatable. The man who talks sui eide needs beefsteak instead of advice.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
THE PRIDE OF THE OLD SOUTH

HfOm ln6 BalIlmOTo bun.
 Never were braver soldiers or prouder men than those who composed tho armies of the Confectionery. Their spirit was un- oonquerable. Neither poverty nor hum ger nor defeat nor death could bring disgrace to them. They were defeated, but never conquered. The same spirit sur- wives today in the veterans of tho Civil War who are still with us. Sometimes this crops out in some pathetic incident which brings a tear to the eye.
 A few days ago Col. Marcellus Pointer died in a bare little room in an obscure hotel in the poorest section of New York. Broken in health and fortune. he had been unable to provide enough even to supply his very modest wants. Old and infirm, he could find no means of support. He was too proud to allow himself to become a burden to others. His distin- guished services In the war, his loyalty and high-mindedness availed him nothing in the struggle for bread, but the old sol- dier fought on bravely to the last, neither asking nor accepting charity, with a smile on his face and allowing no com plaining word to escape his lips.
 T guess he died partially of broken heart and pride," says doctor who knew him. 'He was too proud to beg" The spirit of pride and courage is one of the things that distinguished the old south which the new south can i'll af- ford to lose. Neither business success nor commercial prosperity can take the place of devotion to high ideals, and while gain Ing in wealth. population and power, the south will do well to treasure not only Its honorable history and traditions, but that rich heritage of sensitive honor and personal pride which raised It's people above the level of mere traffickers in the market place.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
Summer Bachelors

q have heard none of the restau- rant men say anything on the sub Ject," said one of the summer bache- lors, but 1t seems to me that they must be reaping a harvest from the absence of so many of Birmingham s housekeepers from the city. I have been living down town for two weeks now and I see so many dozens of my friends at the restaurants that know the restaurant man must be faring well during the dull summer season. To man whose attention has not been called to the fact 1t would be astonishing to find how many fami- lies are out of the city this summer.
 When the real head of the house leaves in midsummer mere man eats down town as matter of self-preser- vation for he realizes that if he spent much time ct the deserted home he
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-17
PUckERINes.

A triumph of science is the discovery of the cure for disease which people imagine they have.
 The man who claims he was driven to drink needs no chauffeur.
 Only he is lord of riches who despises them, and he is so whether he has any or not.
 Where a man cleans up so many mill lions all at once, it is perhaps only nat ural that he shouldn't get them very clean. From one mans point of view another man may be all right in his way. provid- ed he isn't in the way of the first man,