davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
BAD COIN IN SPAIN.
Counterfeiters' Wares As Good As Gov
 ernment Money in Land of Dons.

From the New York Press.
 The counterfeiter is the hermit among criminals He never works in the light of day, and when occasionally he is run down by Uncle Sam's detectives he in- variably is found hiding in a dark hole, like a bat. Spain is the counterfeiter's paradise. There he hardly takes the trouble to work under cover. and Alfonso's is the only government which gives official recognition to him. A big percentage of the 600 .O0O, 900 fve-peseta pieces held in reserve in the vaults of the Bank of Spain is made up of coun- terfeit coin. The Dons do not track the counterfeiters because the counter felt coin is equal to the government article in point of flneness and weight The counterfeters use dies that turn government mint, and are satisfied for profit with the difference between the face value of the peseta and the cost of the bullion in it.
 Coin collectors are never happier than when lingering rare counterfeit. Only the other day a spurious Spanish doub-
 
 loon brought s60 under the auctioneer's hammer in this city. That was one of the rare instances in which the value topped that of the genuine piece. But this coin has been held by men wise in the lore of the numismatist as a work of art. It is taken as one of the finest specimens of the platinum fakes" once fairly common, but now so rare as to rank as curiosities. The doubloon, made from platinum dipped in gold cir culated freely two generations ago, but there is good reason for the counter feiter in these days keeping his fn- bers off platinum. It is worth more than gold. The intrinsic value of the doubloon in gold is s15. The platinum counterfeit at the prevailing market rate has an intrinsic value of $17.5O. So there you are.
 Before platinum became an aristocrat among precious metals it went into many limitations of United States eagles and British sovereigns. If the counterfeiters could have read the future they could have made money for their heirs by buying platinum and waiting for the rise In the market. But there's nothing more uncertain than the law of supply and demand, and other counterfeiters have been fooled. A bright Yankee few years ago scraped enough together to buy a silver mine and struck off heap of counterfeit Mexican dollars. The fraud was dis covered in the Philadelphia mint, and the story that was told was enough to make the smart Yankee whistle out of the other side of his mouth. His coins assayed at an intrinsic value of s1.50, because there happened to be streak of gold in that silver mine, and every dollar had its share of yellow metal. This is the most peculiar instance on record of the counterfeiter being beaten.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
Big Deal In Coal Land,

Roanoke, Va. March 15.-One of the largest coal land deals In Virginia in recent years was consummated today at Tazewell, between James s. Browning of Pocahontas and Thomas T. Boswell of Baltimore, whereby the latter comes into the possession for the next 50 years of the Browning mines, known as Pocahontas No. 8. The terms of the lease are $200,OOO cash bonus and royalty of IS cents on each ton of coal mined, and "A cents on each ton of coke made, the minimum royalty for the first three years to be $22,500 a year, and for the next AT years $45100 per annum. The coal from this vein heretofore has been used largely by the United States navy and the Panama canal commission.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
AGRICULTURAL ALABAMA.

From the Wash1ngtOn Post.
 At the annual meeting of the Ala
 bama Live Stock association, held a few days ago, it was authoritative stated that there are 223, ,000 farms in
 that state, of an average area of 927 acres, and it was further declared that
 there Is but one head of cattle for every 25 acres, one horse for every 129 acres.
 one mule for every S9 acres, one sheep
 for every 11S acres, and one hog for
 every 16 acres.
 This Is a ridiculous showing. Ala bama ought to be one of the leading agricultural and stock breeding states of the Union, and would be if it had been as unfit for cotton as Iowa or even Kentucky. But for nearly century, | agriculturally, Alabama has been a cot
 ton state and necessarily a single-crop state. However, under the wise and
 liberal policy of James Wilson, Secre-
 tary of Agriculture in the cabinet of
 three different Presidents, Alabama is
 making rapid strides in the diversity
 of crops, in more intelligent and more thorough tillage, In conservation of the SOll, anu III tue rearing ana the care or live stock. Much attention is given to the dairy, and if the contract labor law
 will permit, it would be worth many
 millions to the state and to the nation if a colony of 10000 Danes were in- | duced to settle in the black prarie | lands of Alabama to engage in and I teach the natives the primitive and gentle art of dairy farming, cattle | breeding, and pork making.
 For early truck gardening Alabama | is equal to Georgia. It is fine for
 many of the fruits-all except apples.
 and Burbank may yet invent an apple
 for the gulf states. It is excellent for
 many varieties of grapes and all the
 melons known to the seuth temperate
 zone. Every Alabama farmer ought to
 sell enough oceans to pay his state and
 county taxes.
 Then, in the north section of Alabama are mineral resources unsurpassed for the making. with marvellous dispatch. | as good iron and steel as can be found
 and the cheapest in the world. To begin, let Alabama make cotton | the surplus crop and plant not an acre
 that will not yield above bale.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
Tariff Revision

All information leads to the belief that honest tariff revision is out of the question. The country demands it. but the interests control the Senate and also the House unless there is a re- vision of the rules. A readoption of the rules of the Sixtieth Congress means that the speaker and his rules committee can prevent the offering of amendments or the consideration of any of the great issues involved. And when the bill goes to the Senate it will meet a solid combination of special in- terests, and it will come out of the tussle a delusion and a snare.
 It will be full of tricks and perhaps the worst one will consist in the change of the basis of valuations of imported goods. Heretofore those values have been the foreign prices. The domestic wholesale price is to be  the basis of valuations under the new tariff, and this will enable the trick sters to lower the percentage of duty while maintaining, perhaps increasing, the sum taken from consumers to go into private pockets. In discussing this subject the Kansas City Star, a republican paper, says: "The people i do not want and will not tolerate higher tariffs in the disguise of lower 1 percentages. And if any members of Congress believe for minute that they can rob the people under any such blind and not suffer for it they will learn in time that the demand for real tariff revision is not a whim."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
TaXin6 InheritalCeS

It appears from information recently collected that 36 states have inherit ance tax laws, and the other ten stand ready to adopt tax that can be col lected through the probate offices with ease and dispatch. The 36 states do not desire federal rivalry in this form of taxation. They foresee estates that state and federal taxation, coming simultaneously, would almost confis- cate. Double taxation of that nature would certainly be embarrassing in estates made up of unstable property
 It becomes a question, therefore, whether the federal government is justified In disarranging in peace times the taxation systems of 36 states. The taxation system of New York would have to be reorganized, and so long as the federal government can levy an income tax a federal inheritance tax becomes at once objectionable. The effort of the republican party to avoid an income tax is becoming indeed gro- tesque. It avoids the very thing that it should seek to impose.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
Making a New Tariff

Congress is getting ready to make a new tariff, the third in 15 years. The Wilson bill was enacted in 1894 in a year following severe panic, When Grover Cleveland was President. The bill was reported in January, 1894, and it was not passed until the following August, and it was followed by a defl- ciency in the corn crop, by strikes among railroad men, and by a heavy fall in the gold reserve. The panic of 1893 was, in fact, working out ulti- mate effects.
 In 1897 the republicans were restored to power, MT. Mckinley becoming President. A special session was at once convened to make a new tariff the Dingley taHff. A long contention over it followed, and times did not get better until it was known that a great wheat crop was assured in this coun- try. while in Europe there was an un- mistakable shortage. The big crop did start up the wheels of industry and trade became active. This lasted, and so did the Dingley tariff, down to Octo- Der, 1907, when another great panic occurred.
 ~ matter of plain fact the con-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
DAYS RECORD IN
 COUNTY COURTS

In the county courts yesterday was quite busy day. All of the divisions were In session during the greater DOT ton Of the day and the amount of business disposed of was large.
 In the first division of the city court the case of the Singer Sewing Machine company vs. Mrs. E. Erswen. an ap- peal case, is on trial
 In the second division of the city court the case of Elsie Smith, pro ami. vs. Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company is in trial The case of Gussie Reid vs. Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company is in the hands of the jury The following consent judgments were rendered yesterday: Elizabeth Sian nigan, pro ami. vs. Southern railway, $50; Emma Dean, pro ami vs, Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company, $2oO; Mrs. Lizzie Maddox vs. Birmingham Rail- way, Light and Power company, $50; M. F. Maddox vs Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company, s15O.
 In the third division of the city court the only case tried was that of Tom Turner vs. Louisville and Nashville Rail- road company in which a verdict for the defendant was rendered
 In the chancery court the following de- crees were rendered yesterday: Monroe Copenny vs. Southern Realty company ct al, decree pro confesso, set aside; B. A. Wilson vs. Marietta Roebock ct al de- cree pro confesso set aside; Wyatt lief line vs. Country club ct al, decree of dismissal; W. R. White vs. A. M. Mag nus, dismissal.
 In Judge Lanes division of the circuit court the case on trial is that of Fannie W. Smith vs. Chattanooga Brewing com pany.
 In Judge Colemans division of the cir cult court several cases were dismissed by agreement and others were dismissed for want of prosecution. The remaining cases set on the days docket were con- tinued
 In the first division of the criminal court non-capital felonies are on trial this week. The jury in the case of Swetan Bogoif, charged with receiving stolen property, returned a verdict of not guilty. The case of Louis Brandes, charged with violating the prohibition law, was continued until Thursday. Judge Weaver instructed the jury in the case of Jim Ash, charged with burglary, to return verdict of not guilty.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16

read and may not be able to express In as strong language as I ought the importance of this subject to the peo- pie. but in addition to what I have ,al- ready said. I would, without wishing to intrude upon you space, say that the sheep industry of Alabama is almost nil on account of the dogs. A great many who wished to go into the sheep industry have been deterred therefrom by the many dangers and difficulties that now surround it and several that l know that had engaged in 1t abandoned it from pure disgust on account of their losses; thus thousands and thousands of dollars are lost by this industry alone.
 The published accounts of numbers of persons who have visited our city (Mont- gomery) for treatment from the bites of dogs with rabies ought to be enough to arouse the people to the fact that something should be done to curtail the number of dogs in the state and I know of nothing that would so effectually do this as a good dog tax law and l ask you to aid in bringing about this result for the benefit of the people and if you think enough of this communication to publish it. that you request the publica- ton of it in the other papers of the state and that the people throughout the state be requested to petition the gov ernor to embrace in his call legislation on this subject. for unless something along this line is done and soon game in this state will be rarity. With negro on every 40 acres with any where from two to four worthless dogs to roam every inch of ground during nesting season, how can the game in- crease? The hunters average the kill ing of from two to three birds from a covey a season and none raising to supply their places, in five years the birds have practically disappeared to say noth- ing of the revenue to state and county from a dox tax.
 l am in hopes that you see your way to heartily indorse what I have said on this subject for know all true sportsmen will do so! I endeavored to have such legislation enacted at the last meeting of the legislature, passed 1t through the house, but it met its death knell in the senate. Respectfully yours,
 P. B. MASTIN. Montgomery county, R. F. D. No. {.
 March 10. 19O9
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
Business Mems Iean,,e-

Birmingham has it's Commercial club and it's Board of Trade. but the new mercantile association known as the Bus mess Mems league, having for it's spe- cifie object the expansion of this city $ retail trade, is one of the livest organ izations ever established in this part of the country said prominent citizen
 No movement ever started here has had the active cooperation of so large a number of merchants as the one referred to. great majority of the retail firms are already enrolled and before another week rolls round every merchant will be a member And the best Of it Is every member is enthusiastic and every officer and director is a worker.
 Great things will be accomplished in advancing Birmingham's claims as the most attractive shipping center in the south.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
EMERSON AND HAWTHORNE.

Julian Hawth orne, in Human Life for
 March.
 He liked my father very much, and when they met he would talk to him continually; and my father would listen to him faithfully but did not care much about his theories. On the other hand. Emerson could not contrive to read my fathers stories or to approve such as he attempted to read. The books and stories were full of the consequences of sin; and Emerson did not care to specu- late or think about sin. He preferred to live in that exquisite palace of per lection which he had built. where sin is not mentioned. This is a large world and there Is plenty of room in 1t for my father and for Emerson. My mother took a much more cordial interest in his radiant pronunciamentos, and could return him almost as good as he sent. And she was also able to read my fathers books and to think them mas terpieces. Emerson admired my father as a picturesque feature of the moral landscape.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
RAFFLES IN REAL LIFE

enormous biceps and chest. Here is an instance of his strength
 Travis once climbed to the top of balcony on a house in East Seventy first street He was discovered, and fell. When he recovered his senses he was in a barred room in the Presby- terian hospital. Next morning he was gone The iron bars had been bent like tin pipes. He had slid down the water leader.
 All of Travis work was done in the suburbs.
 And withal ths burglar was gen. tleman. He dressed, acted and lived the part His voice was low, his manner suave. He had a passion, art. In the home where he kept his aged mother and a sister in luxury the walls were almost covered with paintings. In Brooklyn he lived quietly with a woman who appeared to be his wife.
 Travis is believed to have killed po- liceman in Hartford. This he denies.
 Travis or Bertcheys case will soon be argued before Justice Voorhees, at Toms River on the question of new trial
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
WORLDLlNESS,

By William Wordsworth. The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in nature that Is ours We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon This sea that bares her bosom to the moon, The winds that will be bowling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleep ing flowers; For this for everything, we are out of tune. It moves us not-Great Godl I'd rather be Pagan suckled in a creed outworn, So might I, standing on this pleas ant lea, s..,t Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn Have sight of iProteus rising from the sea- Or hear. old Triton blow his wreathsd horn.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
From the New York World.

From the New 1OrK WOrlu-
 @ HERE is in the state prison at
 lO Trenton, N. J.. prisoner who
 was to have been electrocuted on Monday next for murder. His death has been deferred by stay of proceed ings. On the prison roll his name ap- hears as Adolph Bertchey. Under that name he is practically unknown
 The convict is really the most dan gerous criminal known to the police Of this city. When he was arrested in 1898. on the charge of burglary the po- lice discovered he had been pursuing that avocation for more than ten years unsuspected and unmolested. He had mastered the science of burglary. He played a lone hand always. As Wil- liam E. Travis he was commercial traveller quiet and dignified.
 Travis served nine years in Connecti- cut and nine months in New York. Then he disappeared. On December 29 there came from Lakewood, IN. J., the story of a burglar who had tried to en- ter the Manhattan hotel. He was at the top of a ladder when discovered
 He ran a mile through the town, but was finally cornered by a bartender named Frank Jankowski. Travis delib- erately shot him down. Then the crowd closed in and Travis was caught.
 Jankowski died and Travis, who had given his name as Adolph Bertchey, was tried and convicted on February 4 of murder in the first degree and sen tenced to be electrocuted on March 10. The New York police who went down to look him over discovered their old friend, William E. Travis.
 It was chance remark made by that notorious burglar. Big Bill'' Ma son, to then Captain McClusky which first drew attention to Travis. Mason said one day:
 q owe all my misfortunes to associ- alton with other crooKs. Why, I know A man who is never seen with a crook, who has been burgling these ten years, and the police have never seen him.
 McClusky was piqued by this remark. He had all of Big Bill' Mason's effects brought before him. He found quite a number of addresses. Then he sum- moned Detectives Kerr and Fogarty and said:
 Somewhere among these names is a man who has been crook for ten years Run all of them down and bring me the right man.
 Kerr and Fogarty unearthed Travis. Travis, ready to if cornered, al- ways carried two revolvers hung about his neck on a slken cord and resting in two specially made pockets on the inside of his coat. He could thus reach them quickly and without arousing suspicion.
 Travis studied his house before enter ing. First, well dressed he studied IL by daylight Then for two or three nights he would study the hapits or the inmates of the house. He "ouio note when and where lights appeared' what time the lights were extngulshed' when the inmates had apparently re- tired.
 He carried no tools except piece or cand1e and a three-nch chisel. Tools be discarded as cumbersome, unneces- sorv and likely to arouse suspicion. ue took from houses he robbed only solid. silver and 5gold1 This he melted down and disposed of in ingots. No nawbroker could point his finger at Travis
 Trayis chest and arm developments are almost abnormal No prisoner cap kured by the police has measured such
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
IN HOTEL LOBIES
The Iron Market.

The pig iron market starts this week without any change. A little iron is being sold every day but the trade is dull and there is nothing approaching uniformity of prices.
 The Alabama Consolidated reports sales of $50 tons of No. foundry Clifton iron booked yesterday at s125O for April de- livery. which would be on a basis of SlS for No. ?. Furnace interests gener- ally are offering iron at SIP, and some of them are selling it for less. No one. however. seems inclined to sell any con- siderable tonnage at SIP, because it Is generally felt that the price will ad- vance within the next few weeks.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
Better Trade.

There is better feeling in business circles than was the case a month ago." said a Third avenue merchant
 Trade is not as brisk as we would like to see it, but sales were larger last week than they were in the corresponding week of February. The spring trade promises well and if we have good crops the volume of summer business will ex- ceed that of 190S"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16

sideration of a tariff bill has but little to do with the condition of general business. That is largely a matter year and year out of crops, and big crops of corn, cotton. wheat and oats next fal will do more to render busi- ness normal than any tariff bill that can be devised.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
Officers Pursue Shooter.

Valdosta, Ga, March 15.-Officers left here tonight for Haria, this county, to arrest J. H. Hayes, who, it Is charged, this morning shot G. B. Jones with a sh otgun, putting out one eye and very dangerously wounding him. Word came back that Hayes, armed with his shot gun, was defying arrest. Hayes was a tenant on Jones place, and the trouble e arose over Jones' effort to collect amounts said to have been due him by Hayes.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
Will Be Elected Bishon.

'The general conference of the M. E.. church, south. will hold it next quad rennial session in 1910 in Asheville, N. C.. said a prominent Methodist "Sev- eral bishops are to be elected and the Rev. Dr. Collins Denny of Vanderbilt is almost sure to be one of them. He came very near being elected bishop at the general conference in Birmingham in 1906.
 By the way, Dr. Denny is to be the orator at the next commencement of Birmingham college. He is fine speaker and is one of the strongest men in the church."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
Prosperity In the West.

.The Western cities have suffered very little from the panic, said L. J. Humph- reys of Omaha Business conditions in the west are very satisfactory now and high state of prosperity will prob ably be in evidence within the next six months.
 .I was in Seattle recently and that city is busy with it's great exposition to be opened this summer. Seattle is growing rapidly and business there seems to be on a substantial basis. Denver, Kansas City and Omaha are all prospering and will make big showings in the next cen- sus"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
Standard Oil Denied New Trial.

Buffalo, N Y., March 15.-Judge Hazel, in the United States court today denied the motion of the Standard oil company for a new trial and imposed a fine of $20,000. The case hinged on the Standards accepting concessions from railroads on shipments of oil from Clean, N. Y., to Rutland and other points in Vermont. Sixty days was al- lowed for an appeal.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-16
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.
From the New York Press.

From the New York Press
 Jealousy is wanting somebody to like you more than another person who is more likeable
 Either man makes you mad for want Ing 10 reform you or for not wanting you to reform him.
 A man seldom knows why he wishes he was married; he always knows why he wishes he wasn't
 A valuable university course would be to teach the young men there what to do with their education after they get it.
 The comforting thing about how un- comfortable you can be travelling abroad is how many other fools are doing the Same thing.