davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17
SEEING PARIS A LA CARTE

nifty, and that is btt an added reason why we most respectfully preserve their finger bowls"
 1 know of two other notable restau- rants. but of less aristoeratie lineage. which are older than Voisins and tho Cafe Ang1ais. One of these, the Bce.x la More. infthe rue Valols. was foundes in 1I92. Il is a favorite eating place c. mine, simple, old-fashioned very good. And 1t is near the Palais Royal, the Comedie Frarnaise and the louvre; so If, in spite of my advice. you insist on sightseeing, you may find it convenient.
 Older still is the Tour djArgent, which, so far as I knonv, has the record for antiquity, having existed upon it's present site on the Quai de la Tournelle since 15s2, or within less than tfourscore years of the death of Christopher Columbus. The place is ratfer dingy; one does not go there to hear musiceor to see crowds and elaborate costumes, but for the spe- cial dishes cooked by old Frederic who, With his lbsenesque. head and his broad shoulders, stopping under the weight of the 6a years they carry. is one of the sights of Paris-anG knows it. ..
 His greatest speciality is canard presse. When Frederic carves a Rouen duck. crushes the carcass in silver press. mixes his savory sauce and with it annoints the tender slices, people at the tables lay down their knives and forks to watch, and walters stand about in prayerful attitudes. The very writing of this thing fills me with a great desire; a al x.-,ie that I am better off away fl;om Fred cries. His canard Presse is extremely rich, and the gathering of materiar' for such articles as this givest one a ten- dency toward biliousness and gout.
 It occurs to me that this. may be the reason why so little information has hitherto been given on the subject of the Paris restaurants. Writers have doubt less tried to tell about them, but have died in the attempts, or given up and and gone to Carlsbad.
 Notwithstanding this, ,there are persons who have enjoyed the. distinction of hay ing dishes named for them by Frederic. yet lived. On the menal of the Tour d'Ar- gent will be found the following: Sole Loie Fuller. Canape Clarence Mackay, Sole Phipps, Salmon Trout Munsey, and get ting down to dessert. Pear Wanamaker- in which dish a slangy Parisian might find the flavor of double entente; for, in France, to call man a poire is to re- fer ironically to the shape of his head and the paucity of it's eontems-as wit ness the punishment of the journalist who applied the term to King Louis Philippe once wormed myself itno the con- fidence of one of Frederics walters confidence which I shall now betray 'Mais oui, Monsieur,' he smiled. T can make canard presse as well as any one. But then, Monsieur, the people would not come to see me do it. have neither the so grand manner nor yet the so grand whiskers which have made my patron rich, Monsieur
 I was not entirely surprised to hear that my friend Frederic was rich. Not only does he charge good round prices, but he has served me wines which, on comparing price with flavor, made me think he was just trifie richer than he really ought to be.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17
COL. HEMpHILL's SUGGESTION

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
 As most of the people. of Alabama are of good old Irish descent, the very best man for the now vacant presidency of the University of Alabama would be pr. Thomas Peete Cross of Norfolk, former ly of Prince Edward, who is said by scholars to know more about the old Irish tongue than any man in the south, having studied it during a long residence in the land of the Shamrock. Further more, a long sojourn in New England has made our nominee thoroughly conversa nt with the Hibernian potato, out of which the Alabamians now have to make theii ljclser
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17
Dictagrarhs in Court

An official of the Ohio senate has been convicted by means of dicta- graph record of soliciting bribe. A dictagraph was concealed in the room to which he had steered a senator. It had transmitter, and all conversa- tion in the room was thus carried to a stenographer in an adjoining room who put it in black and white. The dictagraph record was read and re- ceived in court and on it the man charged with the offense was con- victed.
 The dictagraph has yet to run the gauntlet of the higher courts. It will probably be considered trustworthy evidence. A telegram is, and dicta- graph record is but a telegram, both being electrical, and matter of wires.
 Jackpotters have a new danger to face if dictagraph records are to be admitted in court as trustworthy evil dence. The detectives will then have handsome addition to their equip ment, and no doubt the dictagraph will be heard from frequently in and out of court. Every detective will gc armed with one. The plain clothes man will have one up his sleeve ready to be placed on occasion.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

about the deadness of their shipping point and trade center The farmer seems to delight in telling how dead the adjacent town is, never stopping to think that he is in that way injur- ing himself. The small trade center and the farmer have common interests and the one should help the other.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times.
 It's just plain stealing unless it's mill lions.
 One reason you don't like relatives is it's your duty to.
 The queer thing about a baby is what a heavenly nature it can have if 1t never does anything but yell.
 It's no more of mania with a girl to want to get engaged than with a man to want to lose his money in speculation.
 What makes a man ashamed of him. self is the way his wife isn't to give so much trouble in shop and then not buy anything.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17
Stock Market and Crops

Henrys Clews in his Saturday report says in part: "The importance of the crop factor in the market justifies at this time a calm examination of the agri cultural situation. It is desirable to bear in mind that the governments presenta ton of harvest prospects probably show ed conditions at their worst. Both corn and spring wheat had been subjected to a protracted period of drouth that had culminated in heat weave of great in- tensity. But the department figures cover only conditions up to July and in some instances are not even as late as that date. Consequently, the very general rains that subsequently, occurred throughout the corn and spring wheat areas, and which warded off the impend- ing serious injury to the crops, were not considered. Recognition of this fact is probably the real basis for the stub- born firmness that prevailed in the mar ket during the closing days of the week. notwithstanding the extreme dullness al- ready referred to.
 "But taking the grain report at It's lace Ndiueb anu, loi di uihChts i6ifciihe 6 the favorable developments that have since resulted. the harvest prospects must still be regarded far above the average.
 Taking broad view. therefore. of the agricultural prospects, with a bumpel yield of cotton-between 100000 and 15, OOO,0 900 bales-almost assured, with corr not unlikely to reach high water mark and with wheat well above the average it is certainly too early to take a pes simistic view either of the volume O the crops or the prospects for improved trade and industry that will follow con tinued agricultural prosperity.
 ''The week has not been without 1t
 favorable features. There has in the frs
 place been a distinct improvement il
 specifications and contracts that hay
 caused a better dealing in the steel trade The monthly report by the United state Steel corporation indicated an increase
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17
Mir. Astor and the Prima Donna

Said an old observer: For fine sarcasm it is hard to beat this contained in an editorial in last weeks Musical Courier:
 William Waldorf Astor and prima donna, who shall be nameless here. had little set-to In London just before corona ton week. Astor called on the lady and offered e10oo for< her services at his musicale, the terms being accepted with out ado AS he was about to leave, the millionaire remarked: "of course, I shall expect you not to mingle with ny guests Quick as a flash the singer retorted:
 Then, sir, my fee will be only e6O0.'
 This brings to mind some changes in my day in regard to the status of musical artists at social functions. Musicians em- never formed part of the company. They were present to furnish the music just as the caterer was on hand to look af- ter the eatables. It is the same way now. But it is only within recent years that artists of distinction have been em- ployed to give recitals in private houses. Padereski, man of culture and spirit, did not like to play professionally at prl- vate entertainments but on the few oc- casions that he appeared he received his regular concert price-s10O0, I believe-and in addition to being paid he had to be treated as a guest. Other artists have been treated in the same way. It seems that Mr. Astor wanted to change the rule, but the reply of the prima donna was, perhaps, as cutting as anything he had ever heard spoken"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17
Issues In Politics

'I have been a voter nearly 40 years and have seen many political flashes and have heard certain issues discussed that seemed of some value, but each turned out to be evanescent,' said Johnson " Darlington of West Virginia. 'I am democrat, but am no more of a poilt1- elan than the average man of the rank and file, yet l have observed politics with lively interest and have read quite closely the history of politics in this republic of ours.
 "I remember when the greenbaek craze, advocated by the advance guard Of pop uism, appealed strongly to some Of our democratic leaders in the south. l didn't take much interest in the greenbaek ism, but was inclined to agree with MT. Bryan on free silver, although now l can LOOK back and see how impracticable the 16- to-1 proposition was. l did take consid- many years ago. Farmers as a class had never, l believe, organized for political purposes, and this grange idea being novelty tillers of the soil fell over them selves to join. The grange was strong in the south and in the northwest. Like a great many class organizations, the order did not limit it's membership to real farmers The courthouse politician, no matter whether he owned farm or had ever worked on a farm, was duly initiated into the mysteries of the grange, and in some localities it was not long until those who were not connected with husbandry outnumbered the real farmers.
 Tn some respects the prohibition move ment in the south has been like the grange. Politicians thought the grange organizatio had come to stay and that it was winner. Nearly every office holder, and many of those who expected to run for office, became farmers in name. It was that way regarding prohibition. Not few politicians who were anything but temperance men in their personal views, got in the prohibition band wagon. do not know what the next political fad or ethical movement will be, but in most states it seems certain that pro- hibition as a political factor is either dead or is in a dying condition.
 The republican party has been com paratively free from. side issues, but the principles of the democratic party in- vite individualism, and many shades of opinion are tolerated But those of us who have lived a long time are apt to become very conservative. l, myself, am suspicious of all moral reforms that are in anywise drastic. Tariff for revenue is once more popular in the democratic party, and I believe with that as the slogan for 1912 we will stand a good chance of winning"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

Women are now equipping themselves with false eyelashes. Art knows no bounds when beauty comes with a hand ful of money.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

St. Louis has new library and the names of eight Americans are chiselled on it's wall. All are Missourians headed by Mark Twain
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

A dispatch states that a man recently died from excitement over catching big fish The wires didn't state the size of the fish and no one knows where the line of safety should be drawn.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

Germany is about to send another gum boat to shoot holes if need be into the province of Sus and it's copper mines.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

The transatlantic companies push rates up and down, acting as a unit, wholly regardless of the Sherman law. Wicker sham is a failure as a ust-buster.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

Fl Paso is disgruntled because the boun- dary arbitration commission took a strip icO.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

Miss Grigsby has received in London a great deal of advertising, and she can now come back and turn 1t into money on the vaudeville stage.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

Some one should drop in on Senator Hepburn in Washington to whisper in his ear that the war is over.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

Dr. Aked says New York doesn't know how to be religious. It does not even try to be-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

The charges against pr. Wiley and the men that prefer them are not in the pure food class.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

While Mexico was revoluting she was also engaged in raising potatoes, and now she is gathering in ducats.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

The best music of the day is the tinkle of ice in the pitcher.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

The Hon. John Wanamaker comes back home to give Queen Mary a frst-class certificate as "a perfectly balanced" woman.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

The English sparrow has not been feazed by this seasons spells of heat. It is proof against all things but not against cats
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

John Hays Hammond simply nudged the King. He did not try to sell .him watered stock in a bogus mine.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

Germany is trying to grow under the guns of her gunboats sphere of inf1u- ence in Morocco.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

The Senate is hunting for the master key. It should search the trusts.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

Let us be thankful that Evelyn Nes- bit Thaw did not come back during the hot spell.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

If we had an income tax William Wal dorf Astors income would be taxed al it's source. All governments do this.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

Governor Foss of Massachusetts Is ac- eused of vetoing right and left He should be permitted to veto right at any rate.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

Mark Twain left s471 136, and James Whitcomb Riley has got about as much more. Literature is coming into it's own.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-17

An, noor our sex, this fault in us I find, The error of our eye directs our mind.
 -TroiIus and Cresseda.
New-York tribune., 1911-12-17

time now. and in the last week all sem
bance of leisure has passed. From now
on come the shoppers who have against all
advice been flirting with the thief Of time.
They have the hunted look. Their arms
are filled with bundles and there are more
to be delivered by 10 O'Clock i'm the
morning. Heaven knows where they will
he hidden Even al this late date. accord
mG to the shopslrls, there is rather low
average Of real intense buyers in tho lot
The rest are just lockers" declared AN
apOthccarv blonde who viii sell you any
thing I'm the line Of electric trains iE
Sixth avenue stores toy department
lust WHAT YOU ask, mystihed.
Just lookors-the style Of hot foot dame
that makes death worth dying for the aver
age saoswoman. II isn't the buying ones
that have to be waited on for hours that
drive US TO Manhattan cocktails for dI-
version. It's these lockers. You see one Of
these pulling over the goods on a counter-l
was transferred from the ready-to-wear
scction-and you ask whether there is some
N.hing YOU can do for her to-day No she
SAYS. I'm just looking; and keeps right on
picking over the things that YOU have TO
straighten. They never are known TO buy
anything ] have aDhunch that they are
class of bugs that iirt spend their lives
pulling over the goods i'm department
stores"
Naturally. the toy departments are
among the widest and loudest i'm the stores
as the shopping days wane. ono Of the
reasons for this noise is the yearly in
crease in the manufacture Of audible toys.
There are bogus roars from lifesize lions,
warning toots from Toy autos that one could
take a vestpocket JOY ride I'm, and strldeht
cries from all manner Of wood and paper
animals, such as infest stockingson Christ
mas morning and are broken the same ai-
tornoon or course mamma has To take her
small son along when she goes 10 do her
late shopping and naturally she sends him
to some other part Of the room while she
picks out something for his gift that : CIaus
must deliver on the festive eve. SO while
she is picling out a . cent set of building
blocks and a red tin horn little son over IN
New-York tribune., 1911-12-17

daughter. but not stfkuEly enough 10
attract attention They hate attention.
The badge Of their profession is large
muG. I'm this they stuff the rare silks and
fine imported laccs. which they convert
Iatcr into long. green spcndable banknotos.
Now and then the police run across ono
Of these glue fingered women who has am
inventive turn Of mind.
Not so very long ago woman SUSPECT
was arrested and searched. The goods she
had stolen were found hanging To many
hooks which she had carefully sewcd 10 =
heavy underskrt Some OF the shoplifters
also put generous pockets in their skirts,
where they can he easily reached from the
outside In these they sccrcte the Illicit
fruits Of their early Christmas shopliftinG.
The arrest Of one OF these light-1ngcred
and heavy-muffcd women never raises
ripple on tho tranquility Of a busy depart
mont store scene. one Of the stores Wom-
en- detectives usually handles the case. The
woman detective IS usually ot sensible
middle age and of the married-and-living
in-Harlem type. She dresses I'm quiet
tailored suit. and spends her time looking
at things. after the manner Of any other
DSiOnFl. S0lltlllltS Eil' even idS N'lN9
with a saIcswoman. who doesn't suspect
the identity OF the middle aged one. and
rcscnts having her merchandise picked
over day after day without anything being
bought
I'm just looking" says the woman
slcuth screnely. and passes on.
She doesn't say what she is looking al.
She may have the corner Of her eagle eye
ON the clever Sewer sisters, who she knows
have just dropped i'm from successfully
playing the Chicago stores 10 spend their
Christmas money on Broadway The female
Of the Sherlock Holmes species has TO bc
dead sure she's right before she goes
ahead. Before she says a word TO sus-
pcct she makes assurance doubly and
trcbly sure Sne waits until the shop litter
has about her person pieces of the stores
property which have not been paid Tor and
has left the building Then She follows the
woman TO the street, where she steps mp
to her and says very quietly:
New-York tribune., 1911-12-17

"Will YOU come with me for a minute
She puts 70 as a polite request, but the
polite request accompanies look that
can't he mistaken. They go to the man
ayers Office. Anything may happen after
that II the thief is just a woman who
was tempted too strongly and fell the first
time. she may be sent home with 4 warn
ing. after her father or husband Is com
municated with. II she is stubborn and
acts in an il-tcmpered manner. she may
be arrested and taken to tho nearest police
station to bc booked and baied At her
trial she makes a statement something like
this:
II really don't know why / took the
things. ] had plenty of money. and my
husband has a charge account with the
store. but as | stood by the counter an
impulse came upon me that / simply
couldn't resist, and before ] knew what /
had done | had taken the lace and crammed
it into my nun. ! can't explain why I
did it-I must have taken something that
unbalanced my mind for the time"
Those who have carefully studied phases
Of the kleptomania phenomenon have de-
Clarcd that there are few genuine klepto-
maniacs-pcrsons who can't keep from
stealing. They say that by far the greater
number OF so-called kleptomania cases are
simple cases OF momentary temptations that
couldn't ne fought off. The woman was
standing by the counter on which was a
shade of shimmering silk that she desired
very much and which she didn't feel she
could afford on account OF Christmas ex-
pensCs She could see no one who appeared
10 be watching her. and the thing was done.
Her desire for the piece Of silk. backed bv
the seemingly small chance Of her being
detected. overcame her natural honesty
or caution. Practically all arrests are made
after the lady with the bulglng mun has
left the whirlins doors Of the store That
Is To avoid risks Of annoying lawsuits.
There is always the bare possibility that
the salesladv or the plainclothes woman
may be wrong. and II such were the case.
suit would be Immediately filed against the
store for false arrest and defamation OF
character or some Of those many hooks
that one can hang lawsuit on.
Il has been said tnat the New York de-
partment stores losses at the shrewd hands
Of shoplifters each year would total several
millions. Any department store manager
will admit that his FIRMS losses from goods
that disappear mysteriousy run high every
year Much Of this is undoubtedly due TO
the careless and dishonest employees, not
all TO the lady litter.
Shopllftcrs however. form only small
percentage Of the crowds whose scurryinG
feet are raising the Christmas dust from
the floors Of shops and department stores.
The buying has been going on for soma