davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
PuDD,NHEAn MAxIMs

From Mark Twain's ''Pudd nhead Will son"
 She was not quite what you call refined. She was not quite what you call unre- fined. She was not the kind of person that keeps a parrot
 Let me make the superstitions of a laws or its songs, either
 It takes your enemy and your friend, working together. to hurt you to the heart. the one to islander you and the other to get the news to you. One of the most striking differences be- tween a cat and lie is that a cat has ly nine lives.
 It were not best that we should all think alike: it is difference of opinion that makes horse races.
 The autocrat of Russia possesses more power than any other man on the earth; but he cannot stop a sneeze.
 The man with a new idea is crank until the idea succeeds
 October F the discovery It was won- derful to find America. but it would have been more wonderful to miss It.
 Gratitude and treachery are merely the two extremites of the same process sion. You have seen all of it that is worth staying for when the band and the gaudy officials have gone by.
 April l. This Is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the ether S64.
 He is useless on top of the ground he ought to be under it, inspiring the cab Eages.
 July 4. Statistics show that we lose more fools on this day than in all the other days of the year put together. This proves, by the number left in stock, that one Fourth of July per year is now in adeouate.
 Beholdl the fool saith, Put not all thine eggs in the one basket" which is but manner of saying, Scatter your money and your attention" But the wise man saith. Put all your eggs in the one bas- ket and-watch that basket"
 We know all about the habits of the Lee. but we know nothing at all about the habits of the oyster. It seems all most certain that we have been choosing the wrong time for studying the oyster
 Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear. not absence of Tear. Except a creature be part coward, it is not a com pliment to say 1t is brave; it is merely a lcose misapplication of the word. Con- slider the fleal-incomparably the bravest of all the creatures of God if ignorance of fear were courage. Whether you are asleep or awake, he will attack you, car ing nothing for the fact that in bulk and strength you are to him as the massed armies of the earth to sucking child; he lives both day and night and all days and nights in the very lap of peril and the immediate presence of death, and yet is no more afraid than is the man who walks the streets of a city that was theratened by an earthquake ten cen turies before. When we speak of Give, Nelson and Putnam as men who didn't know what fear was,' we ought to add the fiea-and put him at the head of the pro- oession.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
A HURRIED LUNCH
Nou, yorL World

From the New York World.
 Quick lunch on a train going 50 miles an hour is going some. It is at least 10 seconds faster than the breakfast of a commuter, which has held the record for speed for the devouring of food. Yet the interesting news comes from the west that quick lunch will be served on the Hartman lines, such as the Union Pa cic and Southern Pacific.
 The purpose is to save time-not the messengers time, the trains. Trains used to stop at water tanks and fill up, nowadays, without stopping, water is scooped up from long, narrow reservoirs between the rails. Trains now stop at stations and give the passengers 10 min utes' time to get sandwiches and indiges- tion restaurants. In future the happy traveller will fill up without even leav- ing his seat. In fact, he can do that now in some trains-but not with food. It is stated that the managers of the Hartman lines got the idea of limited lunch" which Is much faster than quick lunch, during a visit to Coney Island. Tn the joyous merry go-rounds is de- vice filled with rings. As the travellers on red elephants, azure zebras. and varie- gated hippopotami ride around and around each makes a stab at the rings. The lucky rider who getse the one brass ring gets another ride free, In the same man. ner lunches will be stationed along the
 Hartman lines. The passenger who does not grab one goes hungry but the trail, gains time. And there will be no free
 rides for the passengers who do grat lunches.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
The Iron Market

''There seems to be what the race track people call a reversal of form in the pig iron market say Matthew Addy & Co. Things are very different from month ago Then rotten was the only word to really describe business. But today there is a great and growing inquiry and sales have been so heavy that the furnace com panies feel that the tide Is really chang ing Everyone is busier. All branches of the trade show an improvement, with the steel end leading the procession. The general feeling is one of buoyancy and hope Optimistic predictions for the fu- ture are the rule. The old chorus of pes- simism has ceased. Prices have not ad : vaneed from the quotable quotations. but there is a much firmer tone to the mar ket and concessions are not obtainable.
 Furnaces would have no difficulty in filling their order books if they would agree to the long future deliveries which consumers are demanding. The latter are making a desperate effort to buy at to- days prices for shipment over the last half of the year. As todays prices are not profitable-in many cases they are ruinous-there is naturally no desire on the part of the makers to contract ahead.
 'sThis week the market has made more substantial progress than in any week for months"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
IN HOTEL HOBBIES
General Business Conditions

General trade is quiet just now, but the outlook for spring business is very good,' said J. H. Henderson of Chicago.
 Building operations are quite active in smaller towns there is fair movement Of merchandise. Here in Birmingham a great deal of building is to be done this year, I understand. There is every indl- cation that the first half of 1911 will wit ness a reasonable degree of prosperity and that the last half will be. if not prosperity record breaker, an exceedingly prosperous period. Birmingham certainly has many great advantages over other cities in the way of resources. and it will probably make another phenomenal show ing in the census of 1920"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
FINE RAILROAD RECORD

From the Chicago Record-Herald.
 The Hartman lines carried 10 per cent Of the country's estimated passenger traf- fic for 1910. Not a single fatal accident occurred to passenger anywhere on the system.
 This achievement is described as un- paralleled in rairoading, and it is at tributed to the installation of safety de- vices-chief1y, if not wholly.
 If a small line gets through a year without a fatal accident the result may itself be considered accidental A vast system carrying millions of passengers owes safety to improvements, care and efficiency.
 What the Hartman lines are doing other lines can do-are doing. Let us have an. other roll of honor for 1911 Let the lines which have reduced or eliminated accidents by safety devices and improved discipline compete for honorable men
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
NEWSPAPERS IN JAPAN

From the Philadelphia Ledger.
 More than 1900 newspapers and maga- zines are printed in Japan. Every town of more than 10000 has one newspaper and usually more. The leading Tokic daily claims circulation of 1s0,000 copies the Asahi and the Mainichi of Osaka claim a daily circulation of 250,OO0
 Journalism in Japan is nearly 300 years old. but the publication of newspapers there as distinct enterprise is recent Until after the middle of the nineteenth century such news sheets as were pub lished were somewhat of the nature of bulletins roughly printed from wooden blocks and issued at irregular times by anyone who saw fit to have them pre- pared. The first of the gerat dailies ot later times was the Yokohama Mainich Sbimbun, which made it's first appear apce about 40 years ago. It was after ward moved to Tokio, where it is still published as the Tokio Mainichi.
 The press of Japan is as free as that of any other civilized country. No re- tiaint Is placed on the discussion oi public affairs as long as ther is no of fense to public morals and ilo menace tc public order.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
WHEN HEALTH WAS A SIN
m the London Chronicle.

From the London Chronicle.
 Tn the days of the Puritans the stocks were not unknown as penalty for look ing too healthy. Ruddiness of complexion was a crime when gaunt visage was regarded as an outward sign of sanctity. Dr. Echard, writing in the early eight eenth century, remarks:i Then 1t was they would scarcely let a round-faced man go to heaven. If he had but little blood in his cheeks his condition was accounted dangerous, and, I will assure you, very honest man of sanguine com piexion, if he chanced to come nigh an official zealot's house, might be set in tho stocks. only for looking fresh on a frosty morning" Few of the January faces to be seen in a London street. how ever, would run any risk of drawing oown this penalty.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
sian, and that is all that need be said

sian, and that is all that need be said about it.
 It remains to be seen what the oth- CT great powers that stand on high CT level will do about the new de- mand of Russia. Japan has not been heard from, nor England, nor the United States, nor Germany, and all these will have voice in the settle ment of the question. It is not proba- ble that the trouble will involve an actual movement of troops, much less the occupation by Russia of addition al Chinese territory.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
Russia's Bluff in China

Russia is engaged in bulldozing China over a treaty negotiated in 1881, and which by it's own terms ex- pires this month. She is not, it is plain, so much concerned over viola tions of this treaty in the past as she is in procuring a new one that would give her important political advant- ages in Manchuria and equally im- portant trade advantages in Mongo- lia. The coveted advantages relate to the northern section of Manchuria and the eastern section of Mongolia Keobdo is located on the upper wa ters of the Amur river in Mongolia about fifty miles from the border of Manchuria and about one hundred miles from the southern boundary of Siberia.
 China is destressed by great famine and by sweeping devastations of the plague, and she is not ready to fight a strong nation. Russia is simply taking advantage of China $ unpreparedness for war to forceh her to grant trade concessions that she does not desire to grant. As "the open door" is not involved Russia considers herself free to force the hand of China to the utmost. It. is mot an at- tempt that would not have been out of place in the Middle Ages. In the twentieth century it is simply Rus
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
Prohibition in Maine

Maine has been dry state-on pa- per-fifty years, and she has had constitutional prohibition since 1884. And yet the vexed question is not settled there. The entire matter is to be submitted to vote of the people in special election to be held next September. The people of the state will then vote whether or no consti- tutional prohibition shall be retained. They voted heavily last fall in favor of abolishing constitutional prohibition. Two-thirds of the legislature are op- posed to prohibition, and Governor Plaisted was elected on a platform pledging the resubmission of the question.
 The September election in Maine will be watched with interest. The state has not in its cities ever been really and truly "dry." In Portland liquors have in all these years of pro- hibition been sold, and the lesser cities of the state have not been strangers to John Barleycorn. But still the state had retained prohibi- tion laws, and next September she will decide whether it would be wise to retain any longer what is comics sedly unenforcable in the cities of the state.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
The Ballet a High Art

Anyone of artistic taste who has not seen Favlowa and Mordkine cannot ai- ford to miss seeing them when here III Birmingham next Tuesday night, said musical person of wide culture.
 1T saw them in New York, and Will sec them again in Birmingham. The Russian Ballet company with its fine orchestra belongs strictly to high art. It gives refined and beautiful performance, and the music is enchanting. A ballet sucn as we are to see next week has high rang in art, and Mile Pavlowa is, per- haps.. its greatest exponent today"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR

From the New York Press.
 A woman seems to get most of her wis dom by studying fool men.
 It's a romance to girl when she thinAs how a strange man might speak to her.
 The children get our traits without wanting to. and you ought not to for get 1t.
 Everybody ought to like sermons be- cause of the nice maps to be had out ot them.
 If man could swim a hundred miles his ambition would be to run hundred yard dash.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
THE BIGGEST SHIP

From the New York Press
 Aquitania, the name now given the new Cunarder building on the Clyde, has a gross tonnage of 50.000, which is 5000 more than the twin White Star liners Olympic and Titanic, and almost dwarfs Lusitania and Mauretania, of S2,5oO each. The length of the biggest ship is ss5 feet, as against the Lusitania- -Mauretania, 7so, and 25 feet longer than Olympic-Titanic.
 Part of Aquitania's amazing equip ment added to such lately commonplace luxuries as telephones, electric lights, wireless telegraphy, daily newspapers, elevators, swimming baths etc, is said to be complete theatre at which regu- lar performances will be given, with per haps every feature characteristic of a Broadway playhouse except ticket specu- lators. This, with the attractions of the library, dining and grill rooms. smoking room. gymnasium and promenade deck, may serve to beguile time between Fish guard and New York. By more than mere reduction of time has the trans atlantic trip been shortened since it took ten days in the fastest flyers half a cen tury ago. The waking hours are shorter than they were.
 If in seven years the gross tonnage of the biggest Atlantic liner has been more than doubled, who can say when the limit of size will be reached? Apparently there has been no sacrifice of speed in designing the Aquitania, whose average of 23 knots may not prevent her one day from beating the Mauretanias best run of 2655 for an hour, which we guess surpasses the speed of what answers for the twentieth century limited on the Bos- ton and Maine railroad.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

purpose. good judgment and they ara remarkably unselfish. With the har- mony prevailing now, and with such fine leaders as Clark and Underwood, I look for a Splendid national demo- cratic victory next year. Certain 1t Is that everything presages we'll"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
VIII Satisfy Reasonable Men

"The few men who cling to the state- wide prohibition notion-and they are comparatively few in number-may feel sad that local option sentiment pre- vails, and that the drastic laws enact ed by the last legislature are to be modified; but the great mass of people who called themselves prohibitionists, and those who were strongly against to have a change from present condi- tions," said a citizen.
 The Carmichael and Fuller laws have proved to be utterly impractica- ble so far as cities are concerned, and one wonders how a majority of men, some of whom were noted for their judgment, ordinarily speaking, could be induced to vote for those sumptuary laws that we have now.
 Mobile and Montgomery may de- mand high license and regulation rath- CT than the dispensary. but think sentiment here in Birmingham is un- lmistakably for dispensaries for brandies, whiskies and other strong lliauors. I have heard some people say that the dspensary system might bo all right in theory, but that 1t resulted lin cities, where 1t had been tried, in the blind tiger evil. But that is no argument. All laws are liable to be abused. The dispensary in Birming- lham would afford no encouragement for the blind tiger if public sentiment lis on the side of law and good order. I believe the people wilI-take a hand in enforcing the liquor laws. and see that Inc illegal traffic Is carried on here. Hotels, restaurants and clubs will prob ably be allowed to serve beer. but no lone should be able to buy whisky ex- lcept in dispensary. With plan like the one suggested Birmingham will be- lcome noted for its good behavior, and lit will be long time before any cons lsiderable number of citizens attempt Ito make this technically a dry town lagain."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
sHAkEsPEARE's ANAcHRoNIsMs

From Arvine's "Anecdotes."
 In the Comedy of Errors" speaking of the ancient city of Ephesus, we find allusion made to ducats, marks and guilders, as well as to an abbess of a nunnery, and also to striking clock.
 In King John and Macbeth" we find reference made to cannon.
 Nh "Coriolanus" reference is made 10 Alexander, Cato and Galen, all of whom lived long subsequent to his day.
 Cassius. in Julius Caesar" speaks of clock striking.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
IN THE OLD HOUSE r O'Shaughnessy, in the

Arthur .OSnauBhhe6sy, In the Living Age. <f 4l NtE In the old house where we dwelt
 No care had come, no grief we knew No memory of the past w6 felt, No doubt assailed us when we knelt;
 It is not so in the new. In the old house where we grew
 From childhood up. the days were
 dreams.
 The summers had unwonted eleams, The sun a warmer radiance threw
 Upon the stair. Alas! 1t seems All different in the new Our mother still could sing the strain
 In earlier days we listened to;
 The white threads in her hair were few. she seldom sighed or suffered pain. Oh for the old house back agaipl ' It is not 70 in the new.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

The special interests begin to fear that they cannot control the national conventions of next year. They have rarely failed since the war to name at least one presidential candidate and to elect him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
KING WHO DIDN'T HAVE A CHANGE

sive of great kindness and good temper, together with the charming expression of his deep brown eyes, won the hearts Of all. Whatever may be the final fate of King Manuel no one will ever be entitled to deny that his idea of sovereignty was high and his fortitude and energy worthy of admiration.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

The New Hampshire legislators are trying to stop eavesdroppers on party telephone lines, and they may become so foolhardy as to ask Con- gress to request postmasters not to read postal cards.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
sUB-TREAsURY FOR BIRMINGHAM Errox,. tho TaIJodooo Home 7

T
 Birmingham has revived the effort to have established in that city a sub-treas- ury of the United States. The benefits ac- cruing. should it be secured. would be felt throughout this section of the coun- try and particularly in Alabama. It would tend to make Birmingham great money center, and that prosperity reigns around the money centers Is a well-established fact As Alabama's greatest city and with the brightest prospects of any city south of the Ohio river, the entire state should join in the effort to secure the subtreasury for Birmingham, It would prove a benefit to all the towns in this section as we'll vas to Birmingham, for when money begins to circulate 1t cannot be kept within the confines of a city's corporation lines.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES

fore, bedded him down nice and left feed and water handy, but the mule went out to work as usual. once more the OK in- quired If the old man had said anything about him. Mo- replied the mule, not .o me, but he did have a laundering; long talk with the butcher on the way home.' The OK was ready for work next day. you bet. The shrlser whoscant see the point to this story wouldn't feel a 1o-pound brick if it smote hin on the point of th4s jaw" Es5f
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

AS a standpatter Speaker Cannon is no doubt opposed to the cutting off of qeues in China. In standing pat no one is more consistent than the rep resentative of Danville's voters, whether bribed or unbribed.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
Popular Democratic Leaders

'I do not recall any congress in the past 30 years in which the big demo- cratic leaders were so popular person ally as Champ Clark and Oscar Under wood, nor do I remember a time when there was so much genuine harmony in the democratic party as now" said an old citizen of keen observation and democratic ardor who has spent many years of his life in Washington.
 "I remember the late Sam Randall well. He was a very pleasant sort of a person, and had many friends. MT Carlisle, Judge Crisp, William l.. Will son and other great democrats 'whc have gone to join the silent majority were men of engaging personality. Il happened that I was on terms of in timacy with Mr. Wilson. He was one of the most lovable men ever knew But Champ Clark and Oscar Underwood |certainly form team Unsurpassed 1T popularity. They are both men of higi
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
RARE. ENDURANCE.

An Indiana preacher has been granted a divorce from his wife, who is said to have nagged him fer 24 years The re- markable feature of the case is that he had spunk enough to sue for a divorce after having been under fire so long,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

TWO SEASONS.
 (Contributed.) Cold and dark and bleak and dreary, These north winds, they make me weary, Sneeze and cough and shake and shiver- Old Jack Frost will leave us, never. Summer'll never come. Breaks the music sweet and sprightly, Hear the dancers tripping lightly, Winds of Winter brace and cheer us, Dear warm hearts are beating near us. Summers always here.
 Fred Rush. ReSsemer Ala
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

The shortest month of the year is crowded with holidays-Groundhog day, Lincoln's birthday, Valentine day, and Washington's birthday.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
FINE AND DANDY.

A former New Yorker is reported. to be king of South Sea island. He lives on the best his faithful subjects can provide, takes a new wife every month and has slave girls to fan him when he snoozes. Does he ever pine for the false joys" of Broadway? We wot not
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

The Houston Post has in mission ary spirit sent young lady reporter to the press gallery at Washington in the hope that that locality will be impressed by her refined presence.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18
"DID WE BIT KNOW.

"DID WE BUT KNOW" Did we but know our neighbors' thoughts, Wed have far less conceit, Nor would we hold our chins in afr When we walked down the street. Did we but know our neighbors' thoughts, Our overweening pride Would seem so senseless and absurd, We'd steal away ard hide
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

Emperor William has feverish in fluenza. In the plain everyday man this complaint is called the grip.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

It is said people no longer display enthusiasm when politics are under consideration.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

Cincinnati bids fair to be the chief seat of war next year, for both MT. Taft and Governor Harmon will have their headquarters there.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

Arizona for the Arizonians, and this is why they should be permitted to have all of the recall that they may desire.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

It is true, Mabel, that valentines are sometimes used as penuripers, but such use springs from a hard heart.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

Andrew Carnegie is giving away family secrets when he says the wives of rich men are not happy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

It is learned man indeed svho can tell what the initiative, referendum and recall really and truly mean.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-18

Louisville, St. Louis and Baltimore are all contesting for the holding of the democratic national convention in 1912.