davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

From the Springfield Republican.
 While the automobile laws in some or the Swiss cantons are unequaled for re- strictive features, some other European countries present laws that are almost equally severe. The German government, for one, persists In treating the motor driven vehicle as thing to be greatly feared The German law, which Is in force throughout the empire, prescr1oes a maximum speed of nine miles an hour Tn all towns and villages. The effect of this regulation, 1t is said, has been to increase the congestion of the streets to a greater extent than was ever before. The Ger man requirements with regard to driving licenses are also remarkable The apph- cant must furnish his photograph, his birth certificate, and a certificate from his physician testifying to his good phys cal condition and freedom from illness. Then, after his moral character has been certified to, he is given series of severe road tests to show driving capacity. If he emerges unscathed. he is given H. cense.
 Italy this year also placed in effect SN harsh in some of it's phases, especially with regard to the fines that may be i'm posed. The penalty for driving through town or village at greater speed than the low rate prescribed is from $2O to slOO In the open country no car is allowed to travel at more than 25 miles an hour in daylight and 121k miles at night. There are good reasons in Italy, however, for compelling cars to travel slowly in the villages. In>m many cases the streets are entirely without footpaths, and some are so narrow that person may be knocked down as he steps out of doors from a house. It is said that the reckless driv- ing of motor-driven vehicles owned by the postoffice department is in part respon- sible for the feeling against automobilists in Italy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
LONGEVITY

From the Washington Post.
 Perhaps Charles Dickens never read Ben Franklin or Adam Smith, but he puts on the tonge of his grand old vagrant, Wilkins Micawber, the gist of their economic philosophy when he makes the delightful old vagabond sing the eluogy of a surplus and chant the misery of a deficit. It Is all of household economy spend no more than syour purse allows, and not quite as much.
 Living is relative according to the epochs. Here are some figures Tom Wat son, who wrote a delightful and gossipy Story of France gives as to the cost of living the wage in that land when the yalois dynasty yet wore the purple,
 A day laborer could earn, besides his keep, 9 cents. A pair of shoes cost him cents; sheep 10 cents; s fat hen about 11a cents; 25 oodfish, 10 cents; wagon load of firewood, delivered, F cents; an ell of the best homespun cloth 12 cents; a bushel of rye about 15 cents.
 And in Germany the same conditions
 
 in those days bought beef at one-half cent a pound. At that time there was lit- tie patience with men who adulterated foods-they were burned at the stake. But the world has progressed the four centuries past. The first, and perhaps the greatest of the Bourbon kings wished that his reign shoulu witness period when every peasant should have a fowl in the pot; but he never dreamed that the European peasant would be un- chained from the soil. In his philosophy, once a peasant ever a peasant; but a time came when privates from the ranks O. French armies became marshals of France and founders of lines of nobility. There is not the slightest doubt that the man who performs manual labor now is better off than he who so wrought at the beginning of the sixteenth century, but he pays six bits and upward for the hen that cost the peasant of that elder day less than cents.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
THE AMERICAN GIRLS FRENCH

From the New York Tribune.
 Tt is astonishing what poor French the majority of American girls speak, says a cosmopolitan who spends much of her time in Washington when on thls side of the water. 'It is the more sur prising that this should be the case in Washington, where a knowledge of French is the key to conversation with the fascinating foreigners. Of those who do speak with any degree of fluency their grammar Is apt to be faulty and the girl who combines fluency with cor rect grammar and a good accent Is sell dom met. As for the mothers of these fair daughters, they scarcely ever knew 2 word of French. Where or how they were educated or why they have forgot ten what they learned is a mystery"
 This bombshell, cast into the camp of young women with tendencies toward the diplomatic circle has already borne fruit in French classes and has even led to the acquisition of French servants, but the critic does not think much of the latter development. Although 1t may promote loquacity in the foreign tongue, she says the accent and the more ele- gant form of conversation will not be forthcoming from such a aSsource.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
AInhamn,s Prosperity

"I have visited a number of cotton states-practically all of them-within the past six weeks, and l am im- pressed with the fact that Alabama lags behind none of them in agricul- turial progress" said G.. F. Caisson of St. Louis.
 q have spent a good deal of time in the south during the past five or six years and I marvel to see the ad- vance that this state has made in the alter of diversified crops. Its new high record in corn and hay produc- ton this year will mean vast addi- ton to the wealth of the state and the best of 1t is even higher records will be made in the years to come. Alabama is unquestionably most prosperous state and is destined to be the richest state in the south.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
A pICTIJRE OF THE PAST
Martin Hume. Wives of Henry VIII

Martin Hume, Wives of Henry VIII"
 The queen rode in a litter of white and gold tissue, drawn by two snowy paltreys she herself being garbed in white satin and gold, with a dazzling coronet of precious stones upon her head, from which fell almost to her feet her dark russet hair.
 She was "A years of age and in the full flush of womanhood, her regular classical features and fair skin bore yet the curves of gracious youth; and there need be no doubt of the sheer fty of the ardent affection for her borne by the pink and white young giant who rode before her, a dazzling vision of crimson velvet, cloth of gold and flashing precious stones.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
Final ViaduCt Agreement

Step by step, or rather agony by agony, the railroads and the city have come to an agreement concerning a viaduct in First avenue, and later on one in Twenty eighth street Actual work is to begin April 1, 1911.
 The agreement Is a compromise, for the city is to pay the cost of com structing the approaches, and all dam ages to adjacent owners, and is to close various streets and alleys. The rail- roads agree to construct 6O-feet via- duct in Twenty eighth street will not, however, be constructed until 1917.
 These terms are in excess of the re- ouirements of the law concerning grade crossings, but nevertheless the city is to be congratulated that beginning has been contracted for in abolishing the city's dangerous grade crossings Every year of growth makes those crossings more dangerous. and any thing that promises their elimination is public gain. even if the process be long drawn out.
 The new contract relates. to the Southern railroad and affiliated com panies and the Seaboard, touching two
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
An Optimistic View

Matthew Addy & Co.'S iron report just received says: "As far as actual busi- ness goes the week has been absolutely uneventful. There has been the fair nor nal trading and that Is all. But as the customary holiday dullness slowly set ties down on the market the impression gains strength that next year will be one of large volume and increasing busi- ness. For six months now prices have remained stationary. They have been battered and hammered, yet they have resisted all attempts to force them be- low the present level. This long period of fixed prices Is most remarkable and un- precedented. It would seem to indicate that there is an actual bottom beyond which, with conditions as they are at the present time, prices cannot go.
 .'There is one thing that is certain and that Is that the manufacturers of agri- cultural implements, stoves, and those making what are called general lines, are all steadily doing more and more. The volume of steel is not so large, the railroads are buying nothing. But this country is so great and it's necessities are so urgent that it does not take half an eye to see an immense amount of business being damned up. It is being held back and some day it is going to burst the banks and come sweeping down the river of trade like flood.
 "It is difficult of course for pig iron men to be optimistic after their experi- ences this year, and yet there is gen eral feeling that everything is getting in shape for better times'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
YANGTsE RIVER.

Julian Tenison in Chambers Journal My hull is on leave in England, lounge
 and take my ease; s7. But my hearts in a little gunboat on the
 yellow China seas.
 I walk on the dirty pavements, 'twixt
 lines of dingy wall; H But my mind stretches ever eastward,
 where the Yangtse river calls. The spell of the east is on me, and I see
 with my inner eye
 The green of it's fields, the brown of its
 flood, the blue of it's sky. In dreams of the prince of torrents. I
 mark at its rice-fringed edge The sampans moored by the village, the
 water snakes in the sedge; And the gunboat works 'gainst the cur
 rent, slowly, mile after mile, To drop her anchor at evening by the
 Golden Pagodas isle;
 And the junks drift gently past us, and
 the dying sunlight burns On the great mat sails. and the crazy
 masts. and the high carved sterns. Born in Tibetan mountain springs
 'mongst rocks and rapids free, Three thousand miles of stately flood flow
 swiftly to the sea A By bamboo groves, and green lush fields,
 and many a queer white town Where noble tombs attest to long-dead
 Emperors' renown; Red temple roofs and fort-crowned hills
 the tide goes softly by, To old Ranking, and Chin-kiangrfu, and
 to famous and rich Shanghai I am sick of the streets of England, the
 mud and the traffic's roar, Give me a boat on the Yangtse-kiang,
 and I'll not ask for more; Let me watch the paddy fields color
 change as the dusk grows in the sky Let me hear the little waves play on tho
 sides as the current takes them by. I am weary of English ports and docks, the factory smoke and the grime, X I hunger to leave them, to live again In
 the pleasant eastern cline.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
The Business Outlook

President J. c. Maben of the Sloss-Shef- field Steel and Iron company returned from New York yesterday afternoon after an abesnce of less than week. He said he found business in a large sense waiting for developments of the new year.
 ''In financial circles there seemed to be the usual holiday quiet" said MT. Maben. "Just what improvement will take place in the Iron market remains to be seen; but a large number of furnaces will shut down the first of the year and the re- drction in output is bound to have stiff fening effect on prices. l look for an ad- vance in the near future"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
GIRL NO GIRL

From the Chicago Inter-Ocean.
 The request for Christian Girl" at the Congress hotel the other night, and the calls by page for such a person ere ated general amusement among guests and employees until it was learned that Christian Girl' was a travelling man from Cleveland, O., stopping at the ho- tel and was wanted by a friend on the telephone.
 Have you a Christian Girl here?' a man asked Clerk Burke.
 "Well, I don't know" hesitated the clerk. Wait and I'll find out"
 Say replied the guest, T don't want a female, sure enough girl, I just want Christian Girl from Cleveland and he's no girl at that.''
 The right Girl was found
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
upoTE "rHE GILDED TOOL"

From the Kansas City Star.
 Henry Guy Carleton, who dled satur- day, wrote one of the nrigntes. oi a.i American comedies, "The Gilded Fool t.e most successful of all Nat Goodwin's 8 n,avs He also wrote several lighter comedies. such as "The Girl From Max im,sn He was wit and delightful man. but his natural inclination as dramatist was toward the serious and the noatic He wrote two fine poetic plays. Thev were "Memnon' and 'The Lions Month";" The former was never produced but the latter was successfully used py Frederick Warde and the late Lotus James. Both were splendidly conceived ard. in their blank verse form, they had particular literary value. With the ex- oeption of John Howard Payne ana George H. Boker, perhaps no other Amer ican writer has made such worthy con tributions to the poetic drama.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
CIaud Mimmx Discusses Business

Claud Mimms, a prominent railroad con tractor and heavily interested in the Bir- mingham Slag company, arrived in Bir- mingham yesterday. Birmingham Is the talk of the country" said MT. Mimms, who recently returned from a long trip through New England. The census re- turns pointing out the phenomenal glowth of the city added to their accom- panying publicity attracted widespread attention. There can be little doubt in the minds of those well informed but that Birmingham will grow more rapidly in the next few years than even in the past. Usually rapid growths are confined principally to one era, but indications are that Birmingham will prove the ex- oeption to the rule and spring further forward as the next few years pass.
 Business indications are excellent. We have a large number of good pieces of construction under way and the chances are the next few months will witness a revival of construction which has been on the shelf for some time. However, we cannot foretell what views will be taken of the recent democratic victories in the east or the recent appointment of the supreme court justices. My view is that hopeful attitude will be taken and that the financial interests will let loose money which will bring a fair return to all in business"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

crossings. There is no reason why similar contracts sh ould not be sought at the Twentieth street crossing and at the crossings near the gas house. Let the work go on until the city becomes at length one sound, safe whole rather than a sliced-up city with deadly tracks in every section of it. The gain will be apparent to all when the work of do- ing away with grade crossings is fairly started. This work should not be con fined to one small locality or the city
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
ALL TO LEARN OVER

From the New York Herald.
 "As I understand it. said the woman whose gown suggested that fountain nen had served as pattern, the new skirt still retains it's hobbie enect, the oaa,t,ona1 room being provided by hun snoas oe invisible plaits at the bottom
 ..Thats just it," she was told.
 CT don't know whether I'm glad or
 r.,, |, she went on "Just as l nave ,, stered the trick of walking without ,,,ox,,np the feet some one makes im- ,,ro,en,ent in the skirt that renders this unnecessary. Now I'll have to learn 'o walk all over again. It's too proVohiis' hut I realize that the hoppie nus many disadvantages. For instance, the other aav at a suffragette meeting some one
 o,,aa .ratst and not woman was able to nount her chair. One woman trieu and it took six of us three hours to re- nair the damage"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

so long as beer and wine can be dis pensed on the payment of a reasonable license. But what ever the change it will be great relief from the present condi- tions.
 And neither will capital be harried by the new administration. No one will ever know to what serious extent Ala bama has been hurt by the stringent pro- hibition laws and the tendency to put the brakes on foreign capital and Tor eign corporations. The platform of the democratic convention held at Montgom- cry in May has the true ring touching capital and the liquor problem and the democratic legislature will be largely in- nnenced by it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
WHEN TIME sKEDADDLED
ew York Letter.

From a New York Letter.
 One of the stories about well known New York writer and adven- turer was to the effect that he used to favor a delicate little tippie com posed of Scotch whisky and curacoa in equal parts.
 He had boasted the beauties or his dr,nl, to friend named Johnson, who came to town especially to test 1t. They began on Thursday. On Sunday even- inc +be host was aroused from slum- Der to bid his friend sooo-py. MT Johnson was quite unaffected by his potations. He walked scrupulously from bar to bar, to say good-by to the friends he had made. His color was good, his eyes bright and his walk was un- swerving. T certainly have had q
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
FELL EFFECT

FELL EFFECT OF ENNUI.
 The following story is credited to Mark Twain:
 "An agent once called upon Mark Twain and sought to interest him in life insur- ance At first he talked well, then, hay ing exhausted all of his arguments, he merely talked. Mark Twain yawned slightly and became reminded as follows Some years ago in Hartford we all went to church one hot, sweltering night to hear the annual report of MT. Hawley, a city missionary, who went around find ing people who needed help and didn't want to ask for 1t. He told of the life in cellars where poverty resided; he gave instances Of the heroism and devotion of the poor. When a man with millions gives, he said, we make great deal of noise It's the noise in the wrong place, for it's the widows mite that counts. Well, Hawley worked me up to great pitch. I could hardly wait for him to get through. I had $400 in my pocket. I wanted to give that and borrow more to give. You could see greenbacks in every eye. But, instead of passing the plate
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
GROWTH OF LONDON
n the London Outlook.

From the London Outlook.
 The amazing growth of our urban cen- ters was illustrated by the computation that every 15 years an area as large as the county of Buckinghamshire is taken from rural England for building pur- poses In the last 30 years London has been augmented by over one-half million houses and by 1500 miles of streets.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
IN.RETROSPECT.

Because he did his best,
 No matter what befell, Nor ever sought for rest,
 Until he'd earned 1t well, He found so much in life
 Was worth a fellows while,- Even in toll and strife
 Had never ceased to snile,- That when his hair was gray And when his eyes were dim, He thought 1t right to say
 Fate had been good to him. Had given him work to do.
 With tireless, patient hand, And strength to conquer rue, Where glooms the Shadowland; With intervals of joy,
 Which helped him to forget Life's heartache and annoy,
 Its sorrow and regret. And with fond guidance still Had kept his feet in ways Which, trod with dauntless will, Led on to fruitful days.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
nEF1ECmoNs OF A BACHELOR

From the New York Press.
 We buy pleasure, and it isn't; we build happiness. and it is.
 Nobody could be cynic if the world was peopled only by children.
 Being in politics seems like hanging on 10 a life raft in stormy midocean.
 Love is what woman wants before marriage and much harder afterward.
 You can tell when a womans com plexion is touched up bit by how con scious she acts that it Is natural.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
About Persons

W. S. Oliver of Panola, one of the new towns on the line of the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern railroad in Sumter county was in Birmingham yesterday. MT. Oliver is planter and merchant and is the moving spirit in the building of the new town.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

If King George creates 800 new peers American heiresses may be able to find few choice ones on almost any bargain counter.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
POLITICAL NOTE

From the Louisville Courier-Journal
 It costs 20 cents a mile to haul con gressman, worth $600 year in private life. to a $750O job, and a traction engine couldn't haul him away from the job as long as he can bamboozle the innocent constituent.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

Every inch of the. territory named in the table Is commuters territory and hundreds of trains ply to and from all parts of 1t. This territory bids fair to contain in either 10 or 20 years hence more people than mighty London itself UiII hold
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

Goyernor-elect O'Neal should take pre- cious good care to keep his inaugural a few columns below the Taft standard Thirty-four columns is altogether too much.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

The New York savings banks have de- cided to continue paying interest at the rate of per cent year. The fear of the postal savings bank is ever present before their business eyes.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
New York and London

London has population of 7,451,Ooo. This mighty aggregation lies in two counties, and no city government in cludes all of it. It represents Police London, or metropolitan district about 25 miles every way from Char ing Cross. .
 If we apply a like rule to New York we have a combined population, as fol- lows:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

Kansas City hopes Dr. Cook will send along with his confession a check for SSooo, the amount he carried away from that town for bogus north pole lecture. K. c. should not wait for the check The confession comes free.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES

then, he kept on talking and talking and ! talking and as he talked 1t grew hotter and hotter and hotter and we grew sleep fer and sleepier and sleepier. My en- thusiasm went down, down, down, down $10O at a clip-until finally, when the plate did come around I stole 10 cents out of it. It all goes to show how a little thing like this can lead to crime ACCORDING TO THE PAPERS, Listen to the tinlkle
 Of my little verse;
 Nothing ever happens a
 To a homely nurse.
 Birmingham Age-Herad. Also we have noticed 5e# That the pretty stem sf Ographers ne'er marry s@H Aught but wealthy men.
 Springfield Union.
 IN ERROR He said for all he cared, might go to Farukhabad' And you are consulting an atlas, I presume, to find out where that is?' Not at all. merely wish to dis cover if Farukhabad has Carne- gie library"
 THE ANNUAL LAMENT sss 'e- Ere long each bard z.a
 Will drop a, tear yE And loudly mourn
 The passing year. s&4 s
 Birmingham Age-Herald. fS With grimy thumb 4iA
 He'll not disdain
 To turn last years
 Leaf back again.
 Youngstown Telegram RAzzLE- DAZZLE REPARTEE. 'Sir, you have nothing on mem ex- claimed the chorus lady. haughtily. Quite right. my dear," answered Reginald Bounder. Some other fellow Is paying for the ostrich plumes and cut glass you wear"
 GOING ROUND AGAIN. No trouble in guessing
 When Santa Is due, Cause all the newspapers Print little Boy Blue"
 THE UPLIFT "PiffIesville is waging a campaign of progress"
 Any results?" q should say sol The police force is wearing a celluloid collar"
 NEVER,
 Never put your hope
 Of bliss
 In a prophylac-
 Tic kissi
 A NEGLIGIBLE QUANTITY. He's always giving other people ad- vice."
 'Td like to get a glimpse of the stock he keeps for personal use.'
 PAUL COOK.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

The fashionable dressmakers are still line, and women will have to go along a while without knowing where it will finally be located for the season.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

T sat in Lame Duck alley few min utes," says Senator Depew. You will be there a long time, senator.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17

Alaska is stationary with a population of 64S56 It gained but 764 in the last ten years.