davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
Midsummer Sport Begun

Today men, women and children will hasten to Redwood Field to wit ness the beginning of the home war in the game dear to the national heart. The game of baseball is es- sentially American, for here it was perfected, and here it is played in the cleanest possible manner and with the greatest enthusiasm, both among the players. and on the bleachers, to say the least.
 This fine outdoor sport consists in watching one set of athletes pitted against another set, supposedly of equal skill. But the game is not wholly a physical effort. The win ming player is he who mingles brain work with othleticism-he who does the right thing at the right time and does it little better than the other fellow.
 To real lover of the game the winning of pennant is but an incl dent. The true sportsman simply de- sires to see an eagerly-played contest. He hopes the home team will win, but he will stand content if the best team wins, wherever it's home may be.
 To tell the whole truth, it is bet ter in team, all things considered,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
BRIGHAM YOUNG

rTOn f1aTpeT D weekly.
 There is new battleship named after the state of Utah, and the state Is going to give the ship a silver service, as has come te be customary, and they say the coffee-tray of the service is to be embel- lished with the likeness of Brigham Young. Some ladies in washington. mem- bers of a club in the Unitarian church there. object to having. Brigham commem- orated in this respectful manner in con- nection with the equipment of ship in our navy. Whether they, or any one can prevent 1t we don't know; whether 1t is worth making a row about is debatable; but in so far as the presence of Brigham's likeness on a battleships silver plate im- plies acceptance of his standing as repu- table American 1t may be just as well to have a show of hands on that subject.
 He was an eminent man. eminent as one of the worst and most mischievous ene- mics of American civilization. He helped in extraordinary manner to fasten onto a large area of our western territory q false and degrading polygamous religion. ab- horrent in It's theories and principles to the moral sense of our people. and of the people of every civilized nation in Flu rope. He did mischief actively as long as he lived. misleading the ignorant. and plotting necessarily against the good name and laws of our country. and. when he died. left to be cleaned up . miserable mess the expurgation of which has made our government abundant trouble in the past. and promises to make 1t plenty more.
 There is no quetsion about Brisham's standing or quality. and no need of exten- uating either. He was bad lot, who poisoned the well of truth and taught folhs to drink of It.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
Now They Jump Around

Tt is certainly refreshing to anyone having business at the city hall to note the difference in the manner of the men employed there since the commission took charge said a man who frequently goes to the municipal headquarters on busi- ness.
 Tt used to be that the place was over run with employees. none of whom cared whether they waited on you or not-un- less you had some particular friend on the aldermanic board. Now 1t makes no diff. ference who you are. your questions are civilly answered; you are given the in- formation you want and cheerfully.
 Jobs aren't the cinch that they were a month or two ago, and the man who wants to hold position with the city now will have to give the public the service to which they are entitled. I don't be- lieve that the commission would permit the city employees to treat the public as they used to do. There is a different at- mosphere in the city hall now, and I am glad" ,,.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
ALICE AT A TEA PARTY

say things are much of a muchness'- did you ever see such a thing as a draw ing of muchnessv'
 Really. now you ask me- said Alice, very much confused, ''I don't think"
 Then you shouldn't talk" said the Halter.
 This piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear; she got up in great dis gust and walked off; the Dormouse fell asleep instantly and neither of the oth- CTS took the least notice of her going. though she looked back once or twice, half hoping they would call after her: the last time she saw them they Were .of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
The Music Festival

T have been busy the last few days in closing up the contracts with the victor Herbert organization for the Birmingham musical festival. May p. B and 24,' said J. H. Hclcombe, president of the Music Festival association.
 'As is pretty generally known, in addi- tion to Herbert and his orchestra we are to have Schumann-H Heink, Evan Williams, Mile. Cisneros, Frank Croxton, Miss Kim ball and several other big artists. This festival will be by far the greatest ever attempted in Alabama, and what has been particularly pleasing to those of us who are responsible for the guarantee is the alacrity with which the citizens of Bir- mingham have subscribed to the guaran' tee fund
 ''One hundred and ten men have signed the guarantee list for s100 each, which makes a total guarantee of s11, ,0o0. Every member of the committee who had a guarantee list reported that he could have easily doubled the number of names ob- tained had he made a special effort. Sev- eral guarantors came through the mail and asked as a privilege to be placed on the list. All this speaks well for the pub lie spirit of Birmingham, and for the in- creasing interest in high-class music"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

to start in the first division and stay there, than to win a pennant. This is exactly what the home team pro- poses to do this year. The team will be well-managed in every respect, and there will be no sound occasion for roasts, unless, indeed, well-laid schemes gang aglae in some unfore- seen manner. It is best to assume that they will not, and the people will flock to Redwood Field today, believing that they have a team that will start and stary in the first divis-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

William Winter in Harper's Weekly. | "Iife's but A walking shadow; poor player
 That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
 And then is heard no more"
 ig
 The reproach is often uttered that publiclst, when discussing subjects asso- ciated with the theatre of today. takes wrong course if he devoted attention to
 subjects associated with the theatre or
 yesterday. Perhaps. But there is sig nificant remark, attributed to Patrick Henry, which seems not altogether irrele- vent to this theme. "I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided said the great Virginian orator ("the greatest or ator that ever lived," write Thomas Jeff ferson). "and that is the lamp of experi- ence." No vein of reading is as instruc- tive as that of biography, and the ob- server of the actors of the present can derive valuable instruction from thought full consideration of what Is known about the actors of the past. As often as the present writer traverses that part or Broadway which, in colonial days, was the fashionable promenade, from the Bat tery northward to the City Hall park, he pauses in front of St. Paurs church and looks across the churchyard toward the simple monument that marks the grave of the great actor George Frederick Cooke, and the sight of 1t, besides reviving personal memory. suggests much refiec-' tion. The 17th day of April will be the 150th anniversary of Cooke's birth. He died of cirrohosis of the liver, in lodging at Mechanic hall New York-a house long since demolished-March 20, 1872, and his body was placed in vault under St. Paul's church. The monument to his memory was erected in 1921 by Edmund Kean who was then fulfilling his first engagement in America, and by whom CooSe's style as an actor was greatly ad- mired and much imitated-and it was re- paired by Charles Kean in 1s46, by E. A. Sothern in 1874, and by Edwin Booth in 1890. After Booth had repaired it we made visit to the churchyard together May 31, 1ssO and stood beside Cooke's grave for a long time in silent contemplation. Edwin Booth was studious of everything relative to his profession, and he liked to read memoirs of the old actors. He was acquainted with the story of Cooke's cratic life, and In conversations about the stage which are well remembered he expressed a deep sympathy with that ex- traordinary man, in the endeavors that he made, in the trials through which he passed, and in the suffering that ne en. dured when looking at Cooke's monu- ment, always in the eye of the mind see the slender figure of EdwIn Booth, already stricken by the wasting disease of which he died, standing beside the grave. as he stood with me that day, frail yet straight as dart, silent, som Der, sadly thoughtful, his large, dark, wonderful eyes lit by a strange, smoul- derng fire, and again he takes me by the arm and I hear once more his low, clear musical voice, saying, Come we'll go home.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
WORLDS sTRANGEST CITY

From the New York World
 The Yoshiwara is the strangest city in the world, for that Is what it is-a city complete by itself a walled town whose inmates may not depart from 1t without cities of Japan, but took it's name from this district of Tokyo. where long ago the Japanese undertook to isolate and regu- late the social evil.
 The name, though now used to desig- nate similar sections elsewhere has no re- lation to the occupation of it's chief in habitants but translated, means a place where the reeds grew-a marshy spot selected, perhaps, in the first place as a most undesirable spot for the lodging of undesirables.
 The singular city that was swept by fire yesterday is located far from the center of Tokyo-nearly an hours ride by rick shaw from the Imperial hotel It is en- tered through a guarded gate, where the police scan all incomers. Within the walls are perhaps 100000 people, of whom but little more than one-tenth are of the class compelled to reside here. At night the streets are brilliant with electric lights and thronged with people. Vendors of every kind hawk their wares, and men, women and children make up the crowds. But the inmates of the houses do not step outside the doors. The buildings are the best, not of foreign pattern, to be found in Tokyo. While the ordinary Japanese house is but single storied affair those in the Yoshiwara are three and four stories high, distinctly Japanese in archi- lecture and built entirely of wood.
 The ground floors are open to the street except for wide lattice barriers, behind which the women sit in rows, richly dressed, elaborately coiffured, and painted from chin to brow, bearing every affecta- tion of elegance and usually conducting themselves with silent dignity. Now and then wanton will utter a thin, squealins cry like the note of a peacock, but for the most part they are still and composedly await a bidder. Each wears her "obi," or girdle, with the bow tied in front, the sign of her trade. All look young. En- trance is at low gate, where a man sits and sells tickets of admission-something like the check system in New York's for mer redlight district. Travellers stories usually intimate that responsibility does not suffer by residence in the Yoshi- wara, and many popular Japanese tales concern devoted daughters who sell them selves to save parents from distress. Some do marry out of the place. But, rude romance aside. Tokyo is not proud of the Yoshwara, and would be very glad to get rid of 1t if it could do so without scatter ing the Generalization
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

From the Washington Post.
 After meeting the gaze of Napoleon and Theodore Roosevelt without flinching, the Sphinx is said to have disclosed it's iden- | tity to Harvard professor The pro- lessor himself is authority for this inn portant news. Like a second Edipus, he solves the riddle of the Sphinx. He finds l that the head carved upon the lions body is a portrait of one Chephren, a Pharaoh of the fourth dynasty, who glored and drank deep in the year 2s5o B. C., and who built the second pyramid. Maybe so; but the announcement is very disappointing. and We prefer not to accept it. Who was this man Cheph- ren, that he should be so honored? A king. yes; but the line of kings stretches out to the edge of doom, and perhaps there Is not a grain of dust in Egypt that was not once a piece of a Pharaoh. Kings are nothing, but the Sphinx is unique. It will not do to belittle the mysterious colossus by solving its identity as that of a mere kings image.
 The Sphinx is drowsy.
 Her wings are furled;
 Ter earSHRDL ,,TTgzas Dblqf
 Her ear is heavy,
 She broods on the world.
 Who'll tell me my secret The ages have kept?
 l waited the seer,
 While they slumbered and
 slept"
 We are informed that the Arabian trav- eler and historian, Abdul Latit, in the year A. D. 1900, visited the pyramids and the Sphinx and learned that it's name was "Abull-hol," or Father of Terrors." Many a legend has been woven around the great human-headed lion, and in many a novel the lovers are carried to the spot where the Sphinx gazes across the sands into eternity. No man with a soul would be happy at the thought that the Sphinx was not the custodian of an awful secret. The riddle of life and death Is supposed to be asked and answered somehow by the Sphinx, and the world has delighted in cudgeling its brain trying to unders tand the mystery.
 And now we are asked to take the word of delving dryasdust professor that the Sphinx is only the advertising sign of defunct Pharaoh. It won't do.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
J. o. Thompsop,s New Farm

1 Col. J. O. Thompson, collector of United
 States internal revenue for Alabama and
 Mississippi. has traded in more farm
 lands, perhaps, within the past seven or eight years. than any other man living
 In round numbers he has bought 4o,ooo acres. and has sold a good part of that acreage at profit to himself and, it Is believed, profit to the buyer. The bulk of Colonel Thompson's farm land has been in the Black Belt, but his recent pet venture in a farm way is near Bir- mingham. He recently acquired the J. G. Rogers farm of 250 acres in 'Possum Valley, just beyond Mt. Pinson. This IS said to be the richest land in all Jeffer- son county. It will grow everything in abundance, and Colonel Thompson ln- tends to develop it on the highest lines of modern truck farming. The Louisville and Nashvilie's mineral branch runs through the property and as two fast trains a day are operated the market gardener in the Mt Pinson neighborhood has all that he desires in the way or quick and convenient transportation.
 MT Rogers. of whom l purchased my Jefferson county farm, is one Of the eldest and best known citizens in this part of the state" said Colonel Thomp- son. He had lived on this place nearly 30 years, and finding himself with com- petency decided to sell and quit Work. By the way, it was an advertisement III The Age-Herald that caused me to ouy this Rogers farm. The advertisement sounded good and I am greatly pleased with the result of my purchase.
 Tt is my intention to divide up my 2oo acres into small truck tracts. l shall have no difficulty In selling these small farms and in doing so I shall be help ing to develop the lands of this section and make them produce their best.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

flat during the first six months, and that after that prosperity would De ehe rule. It is going to work out that way. While there will be no high degree or prosperity. perhaps. until summer the last half of the year promises to be the best we have had for several years That is the general impression every
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

Uncle Joe Cannon desires all to know that he is in his seat and not in a sar- cophagus. He rises to his feet fre- quently in order that there may not be any misunderstanding in this matter.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
NOTHING?

T see where MT. Lusher, out west, presented a school with a dozen cocktail glasses of colonial design"
 And yet we are asked to believe that there is nothing in name"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
TERRIBLE.

T looked at a pretty girl yesterday and Just as did so the muscles of her face began to twitch, her eyes closed and her lower jaw gave a spasmodic twist that made cold chills run up and down my spine"
 Good heaven Paralyss?"
 No. She was chewing gum'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

The firing on Fort Sumter fifty years ago was heard and felt around the world. The reverberatfons are heard on the Rio Grande today.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

A constitutional amendment is to te submitted in Michigan providing for the initiative, referendum and recall. The reactionaries in that state, headed by Julius Caesar Burrows, are greatly shocked.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

Gov. Woodrow Wilson cannot keep on urging reform movements without run ming a great risk of bringing up in the White House.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

Wu Ting Fang said he would come back to the United States in 15O years. but it looks now as if he would come back this year. It is said he has been reappointed minister to the Unitel States
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

Thirty-three thousand motor cars are sold in New York city every year, but it will be some time before every person in the city Is supplied.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

The president will it is believed, look the other way when Arizona walks in with that constitution of hers. Sensible man,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

The people on shore were more excited than were the passengers on the Prin- zessin Irene. The latter really enjoyed the wreck de luxe.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
HEART-RENDING.

HEARTH BENDING. My nerves are unstrung." Whats the trouble?" T Just how saw moving picture which ter rush"
 ENVIOUS, PERHAPS. As soons man
 Acquires a roll The world declares
 He has no soul
 Birmingham Age Herald. As soon as man
 Acquires renown The world begins
 To run him down.
 Detroit Free Press. As soon as man
 Ties up for life, The world exclaims:
 His poor, poor wife!
 Youngstown Telegram. As soon's a man
 Reforms a bit, You'll hear folks yell:
 'Old hypocrite'
 Louisville Post And when a man
 Plants some wild oats, At knocking hard
 We get sore throats.
 St. Louis Times.
 CONTRARINESS. 'Why did Miggles and his wife sepa- rate?" Incompatibility. why, I thought both were baseball fans.' That's just it. When Miggles would root for the home team Mrs Miggles would root for the visitors"
 vERNAL SHOWERS. The poet sings of daffodils, In most rhapsodic strain, While on his head cloudlet spills Some drops of April rain.
 TWO OF A KIND. "A case of professional jealousy came under my observation yesterday" s"Tell me about it.'' ''The driver of a milk wagon had a
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR

From the New York Press.
 Compared with being nice to some peo- pie even the gout is fun.
 The wedding presents that you cast upon the waters sink.
 It's extra easy for a man to make q fool of himself when a girl arranges 1t for him.
 The man who sells you gold bricks doesn't do 1t because he's 70 smart. but because you're such fool. :.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
Business Improving

There is unduestionabiy much bet ter feeling in, business circles in this country today than there was . month ago." said L. F. Dugan of Philadelphia.
 Early in the year the biz bankers and the broad Hiewed menufactufers told us that busiuess would bs quito
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

The retail grocer curiously fails to hear that food prices have taken big drop. He never was deafer.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

President Taft's penchant for red neck ties is no sign that he wants war with Japan or any other nation.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

Thousands of grandmothers will drop off in the next few weeks to satisfy the yearnings of office boys for baseball.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

A bill is pending in the New York legislature forbidding boo otblacks to shine shoes on Sunday after p. m.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

The Long Island shore was not dam- aged in the least by its collision with a steamship leviathan.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

congress will no doubt get all of it's fervent oratory out of it's chest before the heats of midsummer arrive to stay awhile.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

No decent considerate cloud will cast down particles of moisture on the base ball opening day.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
-----s'------- THE BELLS OF sHANDON

Father Prout. q With deep affection And recollection often think of
 Those Shandon bells. Whose sounds so wild would, In the days of childhood, Fling round my cradle
 Their magic spells. On this l ponder where'e CT wander, And thus grow fonder, Sweet Cork, of thee. With thy bells of Shandon, That sound so grand on The pleasant waters
 Of the River Lee. I've heard bells chiming Full many a cline in, Polling sublime in -e. Cathedral shrine. g While at Q glib rate Brass tongues would vibrate; But all their music
 Spoke naught like thine. For memory, dwelling On each proud swelling Of thy belfry knelling
 It's bold notes free. Made the bells of Shandon Sound far more grand on The pleasant waters
 Of the River Lee. I've heard bells tolling 5 Old Adrians Mole in, Their thunder rolling From the Vatican. And cymbols glorious Swinging uproarious In the gorgeous turrets Of Notre Dame. But thy sounds were sweeter Than the dome of Peter Filings OCT the Fiber,
 Pealing solemnly. Oh! the bells of Shandon Sound far more grand on The pleasant waters
 Of the River Lee. There's a bell in Moscow, While on tower and kiosk. O, In St. Sophia
 The Tufikman gets, The loud in air Calls men to prayer, From the tspering summit Of tall minarets. ri Such empt~ sssom I freely 6r, 1T were But therf;d:A. ..t'pts i'm
 More 6ear to int, 'Tis tho bells of shandon, That sounds 50 grand on The pleasAnt waters
 or the River Lee.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

Uucle Sam is patrollman on the Latin American beat, and he is making spec tacle of himself.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
THE RULING PASSION.

THE RULING PASSION.
 "A man died last week in one. of our suburbs who had caught trolley car to town every morning for 20 years" "A fine record"
 Quite so. And his dying request was that his alarm clock be buried with him, so he would be sure to get up early on judgment day ..E S PAUL COOK.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

Diaz intriguing with Japan-well, that takes the cake as a war rumor.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

The April sunshine is all right. The supply is not, however equal to the de- mand.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

It is reported that the lady mayor Of Hunnewell, Kansas, wears harer, skirt.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15

Lumberman Hines newed to the line the graft line so to speak.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
LIST THINK

There's much you can be thankful fo Down here below. You might be now in hades or In Mexico.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
SUCH IS LIFE.

You have heard about the shoemaker's children going barefooted? At the laun- drymen's convention in this city one laun- dryman appeared in celluloid collar"
 Lawrence Journal-W World.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT

You never hear Bozzle abusing his mother-in-law." rf
 No; but his favorite anecdote is about an Arkansas man who chased his mother- in-law nine miles with shotgun"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-15
RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX

Today is clearly bad day for grand mothers.