davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
ECCENTRIC MANSFIELD

From the Washington Herald.
 .Richahd Mansfield was the most pecu- liar man and the greatest actor I ever saw" said New York theatrical man at the Raleigh. 'He had absolutely no re- gard for money. One hundred dollars looked just the same to him as $1. He would never write a letter abroad. but invariably used the cable. Ninety dol lars was about an average bill for him.
 He used to say to me when I ele- vated my eyebrows at the cost of these messages: Oh, I havnt time to write. He could also use more napkins a one sitting than any man I have ever been associated with. I have seen him sit at table and during the course of single meal use up 12 napkins. His laundry bill was about $14 week. He was critic, too. on woman's dress. One day l at- tended a rehearsal in New York One of The young women in MT. Mansfield's company came on the stage with small thread clinging to her skirt.
 Tt was the first thing that caught the famous actors eye. Go home, instantly, he exclaimed. And the poor girl, with convulsive sobs shaking her frame, had to comply with the command"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
Supreme Court Vacancies

The death of Justice Brewer and the illness of Justice Moody were followed by the death of Chief Justice Fuller. The President is therefore called upon to nominate three members of the great court
 The court meets in October and if the bench were full the cases involving great business interests would be heard in that month. The, decisions in the Standard oil and the tobacco cases will almost neces- sarily determine whether the present combinations of capital must be reorgan- ized or not, ,~and the delay in hearing and determining these cases is leading to hesitation and doubt and uneasiness in all business circles
 Congress does not meet until the first President holds to his declaration that he will not call a special session of Con- gross, the great commercial cases will go over to December at least. and proba- ply to January of next year This seri- ously affects business conditions.
 The President may, however, call an extra session of the Senate in October, md this would be regarded at once as a Aouiro to get decisions in the oil and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
After Sixty Years of Service

The first telegraph wire strung be- tween Lynchburg. Va. and Constol, along the line of the Virginia and Ten nessee railroad. nearly 60 years ago, is to be taken down. This faithful old wire carried the messages of the civil war which it antedated nearly 10 years The section south of Bristol was re moved in 1902, but the section between Bristol and Lynchburg was left in- tact to the present day. Western Union 1inemen are now, however, engaged in taking down the faithful old servant of two generations ago.
 Rust-eaten and robbed of every yes tige of galvanized coat, it snaps in two hs the linemen pull at it in removing 1t from the insulators As one of the linemen expressed 1t: Tt tells of the departed glory of the Morse system of Jelegrapny, TOT US removal IS being fol- lowed by the installation by the Nor folk and Western Railway company of a complete system of modern tele- phones, which are to take the place of the telegraph system of dispatching trains"
 Nothing is permanent in this world. Between the wireless aid the telep- phones even the telegraph seems to be doomed to disappear, and the steam locomotive Is going with them So passeth away the achievements of a past generation in a fast moving and decidedly progressive century.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
ALABAMA AND GEORGIA CoNyEN.
 TIONs

From the Montgomery Advertiser.
 The Alabama democrats who were on the losing side in the spring primaries and who were not satisfied with what the democratic state convention did might note with interest the conduct of the majority in the Georgia demo- cratic convention of Thursday. In the Georgia convention the Hoke Smith men howled down the minority. The man selected for the task was not even allowed to make 0 speech putting Joe Brown In nomination, and when one other Brown man tried to make a speech the majority went after him lin such style that he could not com plete 1t.
 In Georgia too, out of total vote of 100000. Joe Brown was beaten by only 4500 votes.
 In Alabama the margin between the majority and the minority, out of a smaller vote, was much larger More over, the majority in the Alabama con- vention let the minority do three quarters of all the talking. The ma jorty sat patiently through a hot and sweltering day and they sat patiently long after midnight, in an oppressive night, so that every member of the minority, who wanted to do it, could make a speech. The majority, in it's consideration of the minority only stopped short of letting the minority write and dictate the platform. In Georgia they appear to run conventions on 4 different basis.
 Yet. and notwithstanding, the con- vention scenes harmony to be more or l&s good natured spirit of parti- sanship, which demanded some vent. The platform is far more conservative than that adopted by the Hoke Smith forces four years ago. Tn fact it gives assurances of fair and just treatment to all interests-a governmental right which was denied in the first platform. In his bearing and in his speeches Hoke Smith has hardly seemed the same man as the Hoke Smith of four years ago.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
From the New York Evening Post.

From the New York Evening Post
 formal epitaph of the man
 \ of letters,' just as it has al
 ready been done for the gentle read
 er." The title is we'll nigh outgrown. | It is used but seldom now and then, ordinarily by one who refuses to place
 himself among the herd of mere
 writer's" In consequence, 1t has bo- ceme offensive. particularly to an age like ours when nearly everybody can write The incongruity in the title is felt everywhere. At a public dinner recently a prominent author upon be- ing referred to as "a distinguished
 man of letters blushed for shame while the audience Uttered and in
 one large university in the east the man who wears his letters the least bit consciously is termed the "belletristic | trfler," or even the literary feller." In days gone by, and not so far in
 the past, either, there was a certain divinity of aspiration, as well as of | inspiration, in him who ventured to cast his lot with literature. It was inherited, perhaps, from the office of the poet, who originally was the rec ognized seer and priest and ruler or the tribe, all in one The poet spoke winged words" which could fly down the years and convey their message to all believers. He told of not what was, but of what ought to be, and bulded world which was truer, it was thought. than the actual world be- fore him. Now, something of this same quality used always to be expected of the man of letters-the power of
 idealistic creation, whether as poet
 or writer of fiction, or as imagina-
 tive interpreter. Think of our own New England coterie: Hawthorne, Elmer son, Holmes, Lowell, Thoreau, Long
 fellow. Each in greater or less degree had the power of bigger than verbal ntterance, and left, In his reactions upon the past and present, a creation decidedly his own.
 The same requisite was at the bot tom of such world famous literary so- cieties as the Pleiade and It's success sor, the French academy Not to be sentimental, it was a priceless gift, this power of imag gination, of actually creating, which more than compen- sated, even to the popular mind. for the material poverty that traditional ly wentN with 1t. But times have changed. In this country. at least the profession of letters can hardly be said to exist In any previously accepted sense. If pressed for a definition. one would have to say that 1t meant any thing from. teaching students how to read Anglo-Saxon to MT. Rockefeller writing a pedestrian account of how he got rich. The reasons for such a change of front are not far to seek. In college, where the man of letters. II should seem, might still live on in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
The Bnsiness Sffuation

Henry Clew in his Saturday review says in part:
 Any outbreak of excessive speculation would probably meet with a prompt check by the banks and If conditions con- tlnue as satisfactory as at present, gold imports may be renewed at a later date
 Another element of uncertainty that has largely diminished is the crop out look, which is also proving better than anticipated a month ago. The only real disappointment in this respect is cot ton. the estimate for which varies from Il 100000 to 100000 bales; crop of at least 100000 bales having been consid- cred necessary from the business or eco homie standpoint. This misfortune will not fall entirely upon the United States, but will be shared by the whole cotton consuming world. Our cotton manufac- turers will necessarily be obliged to con- tend with very high prices for their raw material, but the south will secure ample | compensation through the unusual profits which cotton culture is just now affording tn, n. So far as the south is concerned. high prices will be a good offset to any shortage in the crop. It will be another month or six weeks before this important staple is out of danger from frost The wheat crop if not as large as desired, is turning out better than anticipated in July. High prices here are also benefiting the grower, and no great decline can be anticipated in view of the fact that the worlds wheat yield is about 20,O00,000 bushels less than last year Corn, the most important crop to American inter- ests. is making very satisfactory pro- | gress.
 There is now good chance of our se- curing 3,0OO,0Oo,OQ0 bushels, and within a month the frost danger, which Is dimin- ishing daily, will be entirely eliminated. Though the price per bushel is lower. the value of this crop Is quite likely to equal that of 1909 In fact, it is not at all improbable that the combined money value of all our crops will equal the $S,1 160, ,000,00 of last year.
 Another satisfactory indication is the diminished output of new securities. This simply shows that the country is taking the much-needed rest cure, the only rem edy for past excesses. and the only high road to true recovery. It is possible that
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
MAN OF LETTERS" PASSING

A humble way the scientific method now so much the fashion, often turns the study of great writers into purely literary history, or at worst into vir- tually an investigation of their vo- cabulary. And though those who are committed to such methods wisely fore go for themselves any frills on their titles, they take care to let 1t be known that a "professor of English is a nobler one of Gods creatures than the former "man of letters"
 In the outside world the confusion Is greater still. The tremendous out countless magazines has removed the distinction which used to be felt by one who had something &C., cepted. Further the willingness of the better magiznes to pub fish words from the pen of a. man prominent in any way whatsoever adds to the leveling process. There is pure literature" on the trusts, on sheep raising, on the various processes of smelting. Let one ask the question, Who is our foremost man of letters
 
 sonable modern test is-a certain Afri- can hunter. Such surprising discov- cry contains, 1t is true, certain ele- ment of excitement which belongs with what we like to think is American ver- satility. Let France and England, If they will, have their societies intended to foster literary achievement. We do arin c1 a part of the Americans independence that when he really has anything to say he can say it without making such a fuss about 1t. Anybody with the help of an exploiting editor can learn the labor of composition" for all practical purposes. Is it any wonder that your real "man of letters" will take to the woods before he will answer to his name?
 Yet the case is not quite hopeless. The law of the ages affirms that our attitude toward literature, having descended to the deadly level of con- monplaceness, at least can go no low CT, and is likely before long to range higher. No period in the sweep of civ ilization ever offered a better chance to the man of true literary imagination than this twentieth century in the United States. The transitional stage in which we now are Is as full of pos abilities those potential times when Sir Francis Drake circled the globe and Sir Walter Raleigh discovered his Fl Dorado. The man of letters," so- called, we have succeeded in shelving, no doubt, but his place wilr sooner or later be filled. and, we dare prophecy, by the very same sort of person, only with different name For If history shows anything, 1t shows the kinship of genius; that great men of letters have all looked at life in much the same way and always with a trans forming imagination.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
The Rev. lenfher cnxle


 The Rev. Father Coyle, who returned a few days ago from his vacation trip abroad, filled the pulpit at St. Paul's yes terday at the l0:30 o'clock mass and again at the evening services
 Just before his sermon at last mass lie expressed his pleasure at being back at his post of duty and of his appreciation of the good will and cordiality which the parish had manifested toward him. At the night devotons Father Coyle's theme was the holy communion, and the Pope's burning desire to have all the faithful ap- proaeh the sacraments frequently, if not daily.
 Tt seems almost providential for pas tor of Father Coyle's stamp to go away for few months at a time in order for us to thoroughly appreciate his exceptional worth,' said a member of St. Pauls congregation. MT. Hugh MeGeever ex- pressed that idea we'll in his short talk at the reception in Father Coyle's honor last Thursday night. And both Father M. E. Kitrick and MT McGeever alluded with pleasant wit to the little slip which the Syrians made in Father Coyles prefix title--the Right Reverend. Father Kit rick said: My first name is Malachi. was named after one of the minor prophets-the last of the prophets but not the least. And having the name of a prophet l would venture to say that the term Right Rev. for Father Coyle, said to be mistake, may not turn out to be mistake or words to that effect.
 MT. McGeever's fancy pictured Bir- mingham as see city in the near future, with Father Coyle the first to wear the mitre.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05

after the Labor Day holidays the market may undergo a further period of tenn porary nnsettlement; yet good invest ments are selling at very low prices on present returns, and all of the known un- favorable conditions except politics seem to have been quite thoroughly discount ed. It may be that the continued de- pression in business and political agita- tion will force prices to a still lower level; but on the other hand, the time is not far distant when Wall street will re- cover it's nerve and begin to discount re- cuperation. General conditions through out the country are sound, and as soon as the readjustment process approaches conf pletion we may expect better prices for stocks. Meanwhile continued caution is advisable until political possibilities can be more accurately measured"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
, SUICIDE FOR NOTORIETY

lated problems, and the best relief for ms family. he simply disappeared He 1ouhd place to G'e and his body has never been recovered. There is reason to believe that Churton Collins hoped his body would never he found in the deep ditch where he had breathed his last. The deaths Of such men as these cannot be recalled without sorrow. Hopeless. brood- ing over real or fancied wrongs, they died as men who yeaIned to drop out of the procession of life and be forgotten.
 The nort ieity of the public suicide is another matter. To drive to conspicu- ous hotel in the gayest part of the even- ing and take ones life in a public re- cep.ion ioom S> suggestive of desire to make ones ending more or less historical. The monument and bridge jumpers are in the same category. So are all the unfortunates who inform the world be- forehand that they intend to die in cer- tain place at a ceAtain time. The infer ence is pardonable that, though they court death, and generally find it. they also yearn for notoriety, and the conclu- sion is inevitable that any human being who s'j.l values notoriety is not actually tired of life.. These might be classed as preventable cases of suicide. But what learned body of physicians can find the germ that inflcts the victims of morbid egoism and prescribe a cure for their malady?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
The Fair Attractions

The management of the fair are mak- ing elaborate preparations to entertain the public in October and all the citizens of Birmingham feel a lively interest in the matter" said Percy Clark
 T want to ask that the fair manage ment will bar all shows of the slightest suggestive character in the amusement line. Such entertainments would not help the boys and girls to be 'spieled' into shows that would bring the blush to virtues cheek. Last year there were two Or three such shows at the fair grounds. I understand that already one that has been exhibiting every day in the week in one of the suburbs, and Sunday too. is to have tent at the fair. The so-called Old Plantation with a few small, yellow girls no more represents the old planta- ton darky than a red cockroach re- sembles a katydid. It is all very well to have negro dancing and singing, but 1t will be mistake to give audiences to that class of negro, male or female who today are making the alleys of Birming- ham lanes of crime'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
COULD NOT DENY TT

From the Chicago Tribune.
 T will ask you.' said the lawyer, who was trying to throw doubts on the testi. mony of a witness, If you have ever beer indicted for any offense against the law?'
 "I never have. sir charge of any kind?'
 Never"
 Well, have you ever been suspected of committing crime?"
 'Pd rather not answer that question:
 'Ha! You would rather not! I though so. insist upon your answering it. Have you ever been suspected of crime?''
 "Yes, sir; often. Every time I come home from a trip abroad the customi inspectors at New York city suspect m, of being smuggler."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
MOBILE REGISTER

The Age-Herald has received copy of the Mobile Registers seventieth annual trade edition. which also indorses and booms the movement for 27-foot chan nel in Mobile Bay. This edition is very comprehensive and the arrangement Is such that a great deal of information rel ative to Mobiles growth and resources can be gotten at without any difficulty. There are 10 subdivisions and each sec ton of eight pages is devoted to an ex- ploitation F some particular phase of Mobiles advantages. The Age Herald ex- tends it's congratulations to the Register for it's achievement.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
The heart I bear Shall never sag with doubt, or shake with fear. Macbeth.
Memphis Getting Ready for 1920

In the September number of the Success magazine Memphis has a dou- ble page advertisement of it's advan- tages as an industrial and commercial center. This advertisement explains it's zones of advantage, it's freight rates, its wage scales and manufacturing costs, its cheap factory sites. its belt line facilities its low switching charges all appealing to jobbers and whole sale houses Memphis is expending in this way $5o,oo0. and its enterprise arouses the pride and rivalry of even St. Louis.
 Memphis took its cue from Kansas City, which obtained about 50 fac tories by similar community advertis- ing. These factories were drawn away from towns that had no enterprise and no get together spirit.
 Memphis actively is highly credit able, and it may be that the day will come when our Chamber of Commerce will conclude that the best way, or rather among the best ways, to secure lesser factories is to lay before the other states the advantages that a rich mineral district and an Open War rior present.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
Rapid ImprOyement

Tn the half dozen southern cities l have visited within the past 10 days optimism has been in evidence" said L. F. Mason of Kansas City. and from accounts received from many cities, south and west, l would say it was safe to predict high degree of thrift between now and Christmas
 Three or four weeks ago the business outlook was by no means bright But conditions, based chiefly on crop reports, have improved very fast. In fact I have never known business to pick up so rapid ly. Business concerns generally are now getting ready for brisk times from now on.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05

From the New York Times.
 It is interesting to learn from good au- thority that the lists of names used by promoters of various benevolent schemes to make everybody who does the right thing at the right time wealthy are tech nically called sucker lists" If you ire quently receive invitations to invest few trifling dollars in stock which will be worth 100 times it's selling price in a few months you are, therefore, classed as sucker" The wonder is that so many persons who never buy speculative stocks of any kind under any circum- stances should have their names on these lists. The inference is that the sucker lists" are not scientifically made out, that guesswork and mere accident enter large ly into their composition. It may be, however, that the wise persons who man age stock-selling syndicates class every body as a sucker. without prejudice, and that their experience in the long run iustifies the classification. Certainly few persons who have permanent addresses escape solicitation. They find them selves on divers and many mail order lists" and their daily mail Is apt to in- clude several invitations to invest in mines, real estate operations and manu- featuring concerns, along with appeals to aid charities and requests from tailors and bootmakers for their custom. It is well known fact that the compilation of these lists is branch of modern business reputed to be lucrative. The lists are sold. They must be worth buying or they would not be bought. Yet who does not invar- iably crumple up this superfuous part of his daily mail and throw 1t into the aSta baslxet7
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
Psychology of Certain Crimes

T have been thinking along strong lines as to the increase of suicide and the killing of wives and often their children by desperate fathers" said a layman.
 'The psychology of it presents the phase of a drifting away from the i'm pregnable rock of holy scriptures and the loss of fear as to a future exis- tence. New thought, agnosticism in some of the churches, making religion a commonplace, the lack of reverence, all have more or less contributed to the increased desperation. 'Old-time religion with it's simple trusting faith, it's forms and reverential ceremonies, inspired men with thoughts of a purer. better life and a philosophical resignation as to the trials and responsibilities of this life.
 And there are other causes that would bring the blush to manly vir- tue to name for they lie in the do- main of the psychopathia of criminal ogy. During the first two hundred years of the history of Rome there were no such crimes And it is stated by Plu- tarch that during that period there was not single parricide or the killing of wife by her husband. Contrast our record with those times, when the Ro- mans worshiped many gods, to ours when we claim to be a Christian peo- pie with the highest civilization and one God Jehovah!'