davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
Texas nnd Arkansas

Texas is a wonderfully prosperous state" said G. R. Holmes of 70S West Twentieth street, Birmingham, who travels for a northern concern. T have recently returned from the southwest, having visited Arkansas as well as Texas. I have seen a great deal of this country, and I recall few states in which farm lands are so beautiful or so productive as the agricultural stretches of Texas. Every city in that state seems to be growing and thriv- ing in every way. I found business good everywhere.
 Arkansas may not be as, well known outside as other southern states, but 1t Is very rich in agricultural resources. Arkansas farmers make money. Last year was good year in that state, and 1911 promises to be as good if not bet ter all through the south"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
He hath an excellent good name.
 Much Ado About Nothing.
Senators By Plurality Vote

The adroit and foxy MT. Root, sena- tor from New York, is opposed to the proposed amendment for the direct election of senators by the people. Like the magnates in his state he wants minimum of popular action and maximum of clique rule.
 He finds that the deadlocks of last winter have rendered direct popular elections popular, and he proposes to meet the matter with cure for legis- 1ative deadlocks. His bill provides that where it is impossible to secure a majority of the state legislature in the first twenty days of balloting the candidate receiving plurality shall be declared elected.
 MT. Root does not object to the election of a senator by minority vote. He sees, too, that under his bill the machine candidates in the recent deadlocks in New York and Colorado wold have been elected. He cares for nothing except to defeat, if possible, the direct election proposition.
 The best way to meet the Root de- vice is to extend the primary system until the direct election constitutional proposition can be put before the peo- pie and incorporated in the constitu- tion. =,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
Democratic Victory Likely

"Oscar W. Underwood, as floor leader in the House of Representatives, is mak- ing a splendid reputation" said com mercial traveller whose headquarters are in Chicago While he has had long ser vice in Congress, and has stood high, it is only now that he has won national recognition. Mir. Underwood has evident ly been a close student of political econ omy. and as a parliamentarian he seems to be second to none. As leader he has certainly risen to the occasion, and should be regarded as first-class presidential timber for 1912. Of course, I do not think he will be a candidate for the nomna- ton, for in the first place there are strong candidates in training who would come ahead of him. 1 do not suppose he would want second place on the ticket, but he is yet comparatively young man and it would not surprise me to see him chosen as the democratic standard-bearer in 1916.
 ''I think that the next democratic nomi- lee for the presidency will be either Har- mon or Woodrow Wilson It looks to me as if the democrats would win at the polls in 1912. I am employed by a manufac- turing concern. My chiefs always vote the republican ticket, but l have can vassed somewhat the members of our working force, including travelling men, and have found that about one-third of them are stanch democrats. one-third in dependents with democratic leaning and the other one-third non-commital. I be- lieye that when the time comes 90 per cent of our force will vote the democratic ticket"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
NANITY-AND OURSELVES

Johnson: 'The Ramblere
 The greatest human Virtue bears no proportion to human vanity. We always think ourselves better than we are, and are generally desirous that others should think us still better than we think our- selves. To praise us for actions or dis confer a benefit, but to pay a tribute. We have always pretensions to fame which, in our own hearts, we know to be disputable, and which we are desirous to strengthen by new suffrage; we have always hopes which we suspect to be fal- lacious, and of which we eagerly snatch at every continuation.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Business outlook yery Bright

"The Louisville and Nashville raiI- roads official announcement of plans for double tracking POS miles of it's line naturally causes great elation in this part Of the country" said a mem be" of the Chamber of Commerce. Fol lowing closely as it does, the an nouncement by the Tennessee company that it's Bnsley Steel plant would re- sume operation on June 16 is all the more stimulating in business circles, for when this districts largest indus try is running and new construction work is ready to be started by one of the great railway companies a new era of prosperity is in sight At any rate the general effect on business con- ditions cannot well be. overestimated Prominent financiers and others in the habit of observing the trend of things who predicted that the last half of 1911 would witness a high degree of pros- perity will see fufillment of their prophecy.
 Two months ago. when l Happened to be in New York met the presidents of two great railroads, and they told me that little or nothing would be done in the way of Improvements until after the close of the fiscal year, June 80, but that beginning with July work on a large scale would be started; that large rail tonnage would be bought, to say nothing of rolling stock and other equipment. James J. Hill and Milton off alc wi whom I talked. MT. Hill has f1oated, of has arranged to float, S600.000, 900 of bonds-the largest flotation ever made by any railroad in the world. While a large proportion of his bond issue is for refunding. s270,00O,o0o will be ex- pended on new tracks and betterments
 in general
 "The Seaboard Ar Line announced it's plans for large expenditures two or three weeks ago. and 1t has al- ready placed some subs tantial orders.
 By the first of July announcements regarding railroad Improvements in every part of the country will come thick and fast. Reports from agri- cultural sections still indicate bumper crops. and with the big crops and with the railroads in the market for the products of iron and steel we will wit ness business activity in every direc- tion.
 The pig iron market has not yet started to move up, but it will improve in the very near future; and when 1t does move it will, In my opinion, not stop short of SIP. No one expects a boom market The fact Is that boom is not desirable But SIP or $12.50 iron would give furnace companies a fair profit, and would make everything hum in the Birmin gham district"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
ONE WAY TO FIND OUT

From the New York Sun.
 The contents of the postcard were brief but important:
 Dear Madame: Is not your door bell out of order?" Signed by the name of a department store.
 TO the basement door and up the first floor ran the woman, pressing both bells repeatedly. Neither rang.
 "They are broken" she said.
 After summoning an electrician she telephoned to the store for the history of that admonitory postal card.
 "Oh, yes," the head of the information bureau said. That is one of our new rules. Goods were delivered yesterday for some one in your house, but no one came to the door. The bells seemed to be out of order and the delivery boy re- ported it at this office. In homes where the family are out a good deal bell might be broken for three or four days without their finding it out'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
Birn,ingham's strides

"I have been acquainted with Bir- mingham nearly 20 years, and have always regarded 1t as one of the most interesting cities in America, but in re- cent years it has grownss so fast as to make me marvel" said Robert H. Sut- ton of New. York. And a most re- markable fact about Birmingham Is that it's greatest growth has been since the panic of 1907. Certainly its largest improvements date from that time. I was here in 1905 and again in
 1907 and '0S. Tn the business district some of the largest buildings were erected in 1907, and there has been great activity in building operations ever since; and today one sees ground broken for an 1S-story bank and office building, to say nothing of other large building operations. As for elegance and beauty of the residence sections, Birmingham is ahead of any city in the south. and indeed with few exceptions
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
Park Commissioner stack
HARTMAN THOUGHT roo MUCH


 From the Houghton and Calumet Mining Gazette.
 Contrasting attitudes toward life are taken by J. c. Stubbs lieutenant of the late E. H. Hartman, and Thomas A. Edison, the inventor, each of whom IS about the age of 65. Stubbs announces that he will retire; Edison that he will keep on working. Stubbs intimates that his best usefulness has passed; Edison that he is just beginning to reach the climax of his powers. Stubbs Is dys- peptic; Edison's digestion Is unimpaired In this last fact there is a world of significance as to the viewpoint of the two men. The stomach is the engine that keeps Edison going. He has not clogged 1t with too much coal As he says, he never has tried to eat as much as hodcarrier without doing a hod- carriers work This is the mistake that for so many spells ruined digestion shat tered nerves and inefficiency In later life. Full blooded, big chested and robust men of affairs attempt to put all their energy into thinking They lead sedentary lives when their constitutions call for a bal ance between mental and physical exer- ton. They may do it for years, but the end isAinevitable.
 Thinking in bed killed Hartman" says his friend Stubbs. No business is so i'm portant, no commercial crisis so acute that man is justified in committing slow suicide in this manner. Be the busi- ness problem as complicated and as eva sive as it may, it is better attacked after good nights sleep The Hartman habit of thinking in bed" is as ultimately deadly to the victim of the habit as talk ing morphine or cocaine in small, regular doses would be. Edison at 65 is reaplng the benefits of a wholesome life, filled to the brim with hard work, but full of use fulness now because he has so directed his physical and mental energies as to conserve himself.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
Plans of the Louisville and Nashville

Plans of the Louisville and Nashville
 The double tracking of the Louis vile and Nashville from Nashville to Calera, 252 miles, is simply a step in anticipation of the opening of the Panama canal. The average man may not plainly foresee the changes that the canal will inaugurate in trade and transportation, but the railroad man. agers see what is coming and they are getting ready.
 The Louisville and Nashville pro- poses to double-track it's most crowd ed sections and this will put them in pretty good condition to handle an in creased and even a double traffic.
 The expenditures resolved upon will be made in Tennessee and Alabama the two states in which President Smiths railroad is strong and almost dominant. In years gone by it was ''the whole thing" and even in these days of reform it is a strong factor in the situation. It is a popular rail road system. No one even questions the capacity of the management, and that capacity is illustrated anew in its determination to set it's tracks in order against the influx of traffic to and from the great canal.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
MUST BE PAINFUL.
LIVING ON ,EAsY sTREET.

LIVING ON ,EASY STREET. $ lie was dressed in good suit of black clothes. His linen was clean. He was shaven and respectable in appearance, put ne was panhandling with that un- lnislakable manner of professional beg gar. They are either jaunty and gabby. or iuil of sad whines. This time he had Just landed from St. Joe. Mo-, found the Jop ne had been promised was taken. ana wanted to get back home.
 Not nick" said the man he ad- dressed. Not anything except a holler for the bulls If you keep this talk LID. But II you Will come and sit down and talk you" '4 p"' or course he went He was a p1ausible. sh1lty, fairly well educated scamp. too coWafdly or too smart to be A crinl- inal and too lazy to work. He frankly said so. He had been a carpenter for a time. and then clerk in a grocery. A little hard luck cost him his iob and he was forced to resort to begging or crime, if he didn't resign himself to star vation, and he resorted. After he found how easy it is to make a living without work, he kept at it.
 T see that authorities say that there are 120o0 of us professional beggars work ing New York city" said he oyer a beer. Personally, I do not doubt it, I would
 
 as 1 do not live in the Bowery dumps I am not quite as we'll posted perhaps as the social agencies are. As to the business of begging-well, I haven't done tap of work in five years. Most of that time l have lived comfortably At pres ent l am paying $1 a day for room with private bath in a littleA hotel on a side street. l rarely miss a night at the the atre or one of the vaudeville houses. I eat very light breakfast, a moderate lunch, and bully dinner every day. wear decent clothes, as you see, my linen is good, and I keep myself clean. l have pretty nearly $1000 in bank. if l should ever need it, and I have never been bothered by the police because I don't look like a bum. Evidently, Pm getting careless, though. I'll have to watch to keep the mendlcant whang out of my tones I rarely make less than s6 a day and If you can tell me where I can do better at hard work you'll win my re- gard. Not that TIT go to workout I'd like to be shown.'-New York correspond ent of the Cincinnati Times-Star.
 HOW TO KEEP COOL
 Don't read, Hot Weather Don'ts."
 PAUL COOK,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
JUNE

By William Cullen Bryant. l gazed upon the glorious sky
 And the green mountains round And thought that when I came to lie
 At rest within the ground, 'Twere pleasant that a flowerv .Tune When brooks send up a cheerful tune.
 And groves cheerful sound, The sexton's hand, my grave to make, Ihe rich green mountain tuft should
 break.
 A cell within the frozen mould, A coffin borne through sleet And icy clods above it rolled
 While fierce the tempests beat Away! l will not think of these Blue be the sky and soft the breeze
 Earth green beneath the feet, And be the damp mould gently pressed Into my narrow place of rest. There, through the long, long summer
 hours The golden light should lie. And thick young herbs and groups of
 flowers
 Stand in their beauty by, The oriole should build and tell His love-tale close beside my cell;
 The idle butterfly Should rest him there. and there be heard The housewife bee and hunming- bird. And what 1T cneerIul SnOutS at noon
 Come from the village sent, Or sohg of maids beneath the moon
 With fairy laughter blent? And what if, in the evening light, Betroth ed lovers walk in sight
 Of my low monument?N I would the lovely scene around Might know no sadder sight nor sound. I know that I no more should see
 The seasons glorious show, Nor would it's brightness shine for me.
 Nor its wild music flow But if, around my place of sleep, The friends I love should come to ween.
 They might not haste to go Soft airs, and song, and light and bloom Should keep them lingering by my tomb. These to their softened hearts should hear
 The thought of what has been. And speak of one who cannot share
 The gladness of the scene; Whose part, in all the pomp that ffls The circuit of the summer hills
 Is that his grave is green; And deeply would their hearts reioica To hear again his living voice.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES

blamed thing to mortgage.' Kansas City Times.
 ADVICE TO NIMRODS.
 Who hunts bear
 Had better take
 great big gun .
 And keep awake.
 MUST BE PAINFUL. Speaking of the irony of fate" 'Well?" T know an artist who earns money to pay his divorced wife alimony by draw ing Cupids'
 A RARE BIRD.
 I'd like to meet
 A poet who Has never sung
 When dreams come true"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELor

From the New York Press. j A man will eyen blame the catechism for his not catching any fish.
 You can tell a philosopher by the way he isn't when the time comes for him to be.
 Getting chances and taking chances are so mighty different most people. don't seem to realize it.
 A girl marries man because she wants to, and he marries her because she makes him think he want sto.
 When a man sand a girl are engaged they have a sort of free license to act just as crazy as they can.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

The 30 senators who propose to dis cuss the reciprocity bill should be per mitted to print their speeches without question or red tape. Let those speeches be shunted into print with facility and dispatch
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

it leads in this respect all the cities of the United States.
 Birmingham will not only continue to grow, but it is safe to say that in the census of 1920 it will show pop ulation of fully 250,000."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Mrs. John Jacob Astor was snubbed by even by brushing all English dust off her feet preparatory to living in Philadel- phia.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
MISSOURI NOTES

MISSOURI NOTES.
 Carthage man has a new name for the harem skirt. He calls it a 2-cylinder runabout.
 J. P. Brewer, a Neosho man, had to get. off the water wagon in order to get married. He drives the street sprinkler. "The only thing that keeps us from having an automobile" says the Lamar Democrat, Ifs the fact that we haven't a
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

As Diaz goes eastward across the sea Castro comes westward. and the worlds $ balance is thus maintained resting on an even keel
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Mexico's presidential election is to take place on Sunday, October l, and in the meanwhile there will be a great deal of politics in that country.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Do not let Madero or Lorimer or John Hays Hammond stop the swatting of the flies. That should proceed no matter what else occurs.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Woodrow Wilson asks the people to re- member that the trusts have lost none of their old power.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

As Diaz steams along he no doubt won ders how Mexico can get along without him. But she can and will
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Justice Harlan is 7S years old, but he is still young enough to trounce his asso- ciates when they are unreasonable.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Our only ex-President has another swing around the circle due him, for he has been quiescent almost a whole month
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

The American Tobacco company still feels shocked when it wakes up in the morning to find it has been dissolved.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Lorimer will no doubt be willing te resign when peace is assured. Dias did not. however, wait so long.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

New York has seen sea serpent equipped with wings It may be the ser pents are aviating also.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Lorimer's real plea is that he was the unwilling beneficiary of the Hines-Tilden corruption fund.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Gates and Gary agree at any rate that the Tennessee merger was merged
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Chicago's new Northwestern "deepo" is expected to increase it's volume of com muters.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
GREATLYpRovoKED.

1REAIL1 9hONOhED.
 You are charged with assault and bat tery,' said the judge. sternly.
 ''I'll tell you how it was, your honor,'' said the prisoner at the bar. Yesterday, as you probably know. was a hot day. The thermometer stood at 9S degrees in the shade I had tried every possible way to keep cool, but in vain. I was standing beneath tree, mopping my brow, with my coat on my arm and the precipitation streaming down my body in rivulets. when this man, whom I am accused of striking, came up to me and said he could convince me in 10 minutes that Bacon wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare. Right then and there, judge, I had a brainstorm.'
 'Ahem!" unused his honor. "If the story you tell is true, there were extenuating circumstances"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

King George is now 46 years old, and the coronation programme will stand unchanged.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

A sea serpent with wings is simply an up-to-date progressive sarpent.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Hon. Jose Yves Limantour has also joined the Down-and-Out club.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
IMPOSSIBLE PERSON.

IMPOSSIBLE PERSON. "Ah, well-a-day," Was all he'd say When told the home team lost again. No fan was he. As you can see, And ne'er did root with might and main. The umpire might Be far from right This chap would never tear his hair. Nor cry for blood In angry mood, With raucous voice and fiendish glare. He'd simply sigh. Like this, "Oh, myl The umpires made sad mistake: But the poor, poor man Does the best he can His neck have no wish to break" Didst ever see His like2 Say we True fans despise that sort of chap, Who's always mild And won't get wild, No matter what hard luck may hap.
 UP TO DATE. 'TIere is the account of a strictly mod ern wedding" "Tell me about it' "The brides former husbands acted as ushers''
 THE WEAKER SEX.
 More times than not
 suffragette
 Puts in the plot A hI1sbaOdette
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
Freight Charges Compared


 'Phe reasonableness of the freight charges of American railways is striking ly shown by a comparison of statistics of the railways of Prussia with those of the railways included In the states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Della ware and Maryland" said traffic off clal. These states have nearly the same area and nearly the same railway mileage as Prussia.
 ''The latest statistics available for the Prussian roads are for 1908, in which year the average charge for hauling ton or freight one mile on the roads of that country was 1.2O cents. In the same year the average charge for hauling g. ton Of freight one mile on the railways of the group of states above referred to was but .64 of one cent. In other words. the aver age freight charge of Prussian roads in 1908 was practically twice that of the American roads.
 "This difference is the more remarkable when considered in connection with the fact that on the roads in the group of states referred to the average daily wages
  was nearly three times the average daily wage paid on the Prussian roads. In others words, while the Prussian roads had to haul only 6S tons one mile to earn enough to pay the average daily wages of one employe, the American roads had to haul 339 tons one mile to earn enough to pay the average daily wages of one of their employees.
 "The explanation of the ability of the American roads to carry freight at rates so far below the Prussan rates while paying wages nearly three times as great, is found in the greater efficiency of Amer ican railway operation and management"
 Park Commissioner Stack
 "The appointment of N. B. Stack of Wylam as one of the newly created park commissioners of Greater Birmingham gives satisfaction to his many friends, and is compliment to his public spirited ness," said a citizen of Ensey yesterday. MT. Stack has had wide experience and has always been an ardent advocate of the city beautiful idea.
 ''One thing Is certain, that so far as it is in his power he will attend to the duties of the commission and will always be ready to lend his assistance to make the parks of Birmingham, individually and collectively, things of beauty and joys forever'"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

Even Chicago is to have postal say ings bank.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09
BAD FORM.

He often lends a helping hand We do not doubt 1t. What we dislike. you understand, He brags about it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

--.s--------- The supreme court is taking a well de- served rest. Judges that legislate do not like the recall
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-09

THE WEAKER SEX. More times than not A suffragette Puts in the plot
 A husbandette.