davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-07
The Heaviest Sort at Re
 duced Prices

cents we direct attention, first, to the municipal code and its amendments which constitute the charter of the city, and from which it will appeal that your board has no power, authority or control whatsoever over the rates of fare charge able by a street railroad company.
 Nevertheless. respecting you as the gov
 erning body of the city, we are willing
 to treat with you on the subject in an effort to reach an adjustment of the con troversy, which will be fair and equit- able to us and to the public. 1 In the year 1900 this company acquired
 the rights and franchises of all the street
 railroad companies heretofore operating
 in Birmingham, with the consent of the
 city, embodied in a contract between the
 city and the company, containing among
 others the following provisions. namely:
 Third. The said party of the second
 part (meaning the company, it's suc- oessors and assigns, shall not charge ex- ceeding cents from any point on said lines to another point on said lines, as now operated, within the present 5-cent fare limits. a fare meaning a single trip for one passenger. Free transfers shall be granted within two years to passen- gers paying cash fares of cents within the 5-cent limits. Transfers now existing on Traction company's line to be con- tlnued''
 We are advised by our attorneys, after a careful investigation by them, that pro- visions of this kind in contracts between cities and public utility corporations have been several times construed by the su- preme court of this state and frequently by the supreme court of the United States. and that it is well settled by these de- cisions that the proper construction of
 such provisions are:
 l. That the company has the absolute legal right to charge the maximum fare mentioned.
 | ?. That the right to charge such maxi mum fare. inasmuch as it grows out of a | contract, is inviolable without the com l pany's consent. and will be protected by l the courts, both state and federal, under the constitutions of the state and of the 1 United States.
 3. That the company may lose it's rights | under such a contract by waiver, and that | a waiver of the protection of the contract | in it's entirety may be inferred from a voluntary concession in a single instance | You have noted that, in this provision of I the contract, the city granted the com I pany the right to charge a fare of t cents, within the then 5-cent fare limits. and that the company agreed in exchange | to issue free transfers to passengers pay
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-07

tract with the city. viz: the right to charge a fixed fare of 5 cents within fixed limits; the right, in short, upon which was and is conditioned the suc- oaso of fhe entire enternrise
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-07

tract with the city. viz: the right to charge a fixed fare of cents within fixed limits; the right, in short, upon which was and is conditioned the suc- cess of the entire enterprise.
 Equities of the Case
 But, apart from our legal rights and your legal obligations. we can not af- ford to reduce the rate in question to 3 cents, for the following reasons:
 It is automatic that for a 5-cent fare there must be limit to passenger haul. By the contract of 1900 with the city. it was intended to establish a 5-cent fare to East Thomas, North Birming- ham, East Lake, South Highlands, Pow derly and Fairview or Hamilton; and a line connecting these points would form the limits of the first zone, or 5-cent fare zone of the system Following this was another 5-cent fare zone in cluding Ensley, and then still another 5-cent fare zone including Bessemer.
 owing to the great extent of the Bir- mingham district (we are now operat- ing approximately 13O miles of track to serve approximately 150,000 people) it was considered absolutely essential then to establish, and is considered ab- solutely essential now to maintaiD the zone system as indicated. And we would be guilty of corporate suicide by the concession of greater distances of transportation than those then es- tablished.
 The principal argument urged against us is by the way of comparison with the fare of cents charged on the East Lake line. But, let us compare the en- tire situation. The East Lake lines is 61s miles long and is double tracked throughout, having total trackage of IS miles. There are two lines to Ems ley, the North Ensley line, being a single track of 7.16 miles and 2.30 miles of sidetrack and the South Ensley line being a double track line having a length of 6.3S miles and a total track age of 82O miles. (In these estimates of South Ensley lines trackage we ap- portion only one-half of the trackage between Birmingham and Fairview to the South Ensley line, inasmuch as the North Bessemer cars use the same track between those points). We theret fore have an investment of 17.66 miles of track in the two Ensley lines as against 13 miles of track in the East Lake line, with the attendant increased
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-07
FORMAL REQUEST
 FOR SCENT FARE
 WILL BE DENIED
Sin. Blue and White Pie Pans
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

thQh  up with a propositiqh until they grant what I consider a fight, not coming 10 me to ask one of. their rights, but coming to me to ask a favor, I am just going to simply, as mar as I am concerned, say we cannot do it; that is all they can ask. Theys.have no right to ask anything un- hess we want to grant it. I call for the resolution"
 President Exum saids
 Exum Speaks
 'I want to say before we call for a vote, that am not very good speaker and not a lawyer. but I kind of feel like I kind of hired MT. Weatherly one of the commissioners here, to make my speech, too. indorse what Mr. Weatherly has said in regard to each tub sitting on its own bottom; I am heartily in favor of a reduced rate to the territory in question. When I was running for mayor of Bir- ningham. that question was put up to me; I told the supporters I had and the non-supporters in this territory that l was heartily ip favor, and I believe that that time wifi soon come. It will not only be to the interests of the people that wanted it, but to the interests of the railroad company to grant it. l don't know anything about the fares or the way of handling tickets, but they made a counter proposition here Wnlch LOOKS like it is coming something near to it, any way, and I shall vote for the resou- ton in its present shape. However, as I said a moment ago, I indorse what Mir Weatherly says: I thing that all will agree that each tub or each proposition, should rest on its own bottom"
 Mir. Lane: ''Yes. sir. but the bottoms want to be, pretty broad
 President Exum: T call for the roll" The roll was called by Secretary Ryall, all the commissioners answering in the affirmative.
 The communication of President Ford, which was read by MT. Bradley, is as follows:
 President FOrd's Statement To the Honorable, the Board of Commis- soners of the City of Birmingham
 Regarding the resolution pending under taking to require us to carry passengers between Birmingham and Ensley for 5
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-07

under the decision of the supreme court of Georgia to the year of 1907 should be so credited
 Prom this readjustment of the &C., counts, which has been made with the greatest care, it appears that the amounts which the company should now properly pay as interest on the income bonds are as follows:
 For the fiscal year 1908, $997, ,47S.45, which will pay the full interest on the first incomes and about 2S2 per cent on the second For the year 1909, $92,50o, which will pay about 2.31 per cent on the first incomes and for the year 1910 the same as 1909
 ',The board has taken action directing the payment as soon as the necessary procedure can be taken and without re- gard to any differences we may have with the income bondholders as to the amounts not now paid and which they claim to be due, this being all that the board thinks that they are justly en- titled to-
 This arrangement is understood to be acceptable to the bondholders.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-07
HAS NEW FIRE APPARATUS Bible Thief Is Also a Jail
 Breaker WOLVES KILL STOCK The Discovery of Iron Ore in Gas We'll Causes Some Excitement
 in the Vicinity of
 Jasper

Jasper. May 6-(Special.)-T com- bination fire wagon purchased some weeks ago from an eastern firm by the city of Jasper for the fire department has arrived. Drawn by two handsome horses it put up a fine appearance on the streets here today.
 The wagon has a chemical attach ment, extension ladders, about 1000 feet of hose and other apparatus attached. The outfit exclusive of horses cost the city approximately 5000.
 This addition to the local fire de- partment puts Jasper in possession of one of the best fire fighting equip ments in the state.
 Anthony Harris, the young white man who was arrested here Sunday after noon for robbing the local churches of Bibles, hymn books and other ar ticles, will hardly serve out the 90-day sentence imposed on him by the mayor. Early Thursday morning when the jailer went to hand Harris his break fast he was missing and on furth CT investigation a large hole was located in the side of the wall of the jail, through which the man had made his escape. He had dug his way through the brick wall. None of the other pris- oners escaped
 Farmers in the vicinity north of Jas per complain that of late wolves have done them no little damage Much stock has been killed by the ravenous beasts. A movement is on foot to organize a band of huntsmen among the farmers for the purpose of running down and killing the animals, and it is believed that a couple of days put in in a wig orous hunt with dogs will be a means of exterminatng them.
 The oil we'll drillers who are at work one mile south of Jasper in an effort to locate oil have struck what is said to be one of the richest and thickest veins of red iron ore in the country. A local oh enlist has pronounced it as being a very valuable grade of ore. Samples have been forwarded to the state chemist and the report is be- ing eagerly awaited by Jasper people,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-07
Only Thirty.eight Victims

Annoy, China, May 6.-Thirty-eight deaths from the bubonic plague and six deaths from smallpox have occurred here during the two weeks ending yesterday.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-07

"Aida" (from the opera) will be shown at the Princess Theatre Monday. Don't fail to see this magnificent picture.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-18
UNDERWOOD LEADS

From the Denver News.
 The difference of opinion between Ol- lie James of Kentucky and Oscar Under wood of Alabama, the sentiment of the country will be very strongly with Un- derwood.
 Underwood has taken up the real is sue on which the democratic party was given power, the tariff. James has been trying for four years to switch the dem- ocratic party onto the republican side track of Pinchotism.
 Underwood has helped to formulate and put through the House several bills which, if enacted into law, would relieve the consumers of much of the present tariff graft. James has been anxious chiefly to add to the existing burdens, the further burden of gov ernmental red tape to tie around our resources.
 Underwood has made good in deeds. James has talked about what he is go- ing to do.
 Some they swear by the work of the hand, and some by the word of the mouth" Unfortunately for James. the country has had a surfeit of words the past few years. and is anxious to give commissions to men who can do some thing.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-18
WHERE WOMAN IS BOSS

From the Louisville Courier-Journal.
 In Burma a man may marry for love just as a woman may in America. And like a woman in America he may honor ably marry for a home. The woman is regarded as the natural provider. She Is the business head of the family and the husband is the ornament of the house. hold and a sad spendthrift if he is al- lowed to do as he pleases. Usually he is kept in leash by the careful economy of his wife, and the wreckage of the social fabric is thus avoided.
 But chivalry rewards worth and thrift Widows are exempt from the burden of taxation, and wives are hon6red and obeyed. It is said in other countries that one of the great evils of work for women Is that they become hard driven drudges and lose their sex charm. This is not true in Burma.
 The damsel who keeps shop embrod- CTS or sews while she is not serving cus- toners, and is as indpstrious as an ant, but she is born coquette whose eyes GO not lose their sparkle when she has become a middle aged matron and the proprietress of the shop. She does not work in steam-heated buildings or for employers who compel her to stand all day behind counter. There is no hurry in Burma and no worry.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-18
PENNsYLvANIA's HORROR
m the New York Evening Post.

From the New York Evening Post.
 No words can be too strong to condemn the horrible burning of negro in Penn sylvania yesterday, and the criticism in the north should be all the severer be- cause this crime of mob passion was com mtted in a northern town. It was hoped that with the race riot in the home of Abraham Lincoln, couple of years ago, the high-water mark of this sort of crime had been reached. But yesterdays atroci- ty was even worse in it's inhumanity. There was no assault upon a woman, there was no question of any possible mis- carriage of justice. and the wretched prisoner was in the hospital because of self-inficted wounds. Nevertheless, in Q state proud of it's general reputation for orderliness, and well policed by its mount ed constabulary, this fiendish crime was committed, the victim being thrust back on the fire whenever he attempted to es- cape.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-18
Upholding the Price of Cotton

Commissioner of Agriculture Hud- son of Georgia does not think the growing cotton crop is to become the largest one ever made. It has de- teriorated "very much," he says, in the last four weeks. He thinks some thing should be done towards spread ing correct information concerning the crop. q think" he goes on to say, "an effort should be made at once to first disabuse the minds of the people about the size of the cot ton crop, and then get the farmers all over the south to hold a sufficiency of their cotton to prevent the price from being forced down to where it will mean starvation to the farmer. l believe that the southern states com- missioners of agriculture should meet at some convenient point within the next two weeks and ask all farmers in the cotton states, especially the Farm CTS union, to join us in this cause for a widespread movement"
 Let the commissioners of agricul- ture meet. The mere fact of their meeting will not be influential, how ever, unless when they meet they can present good evidence that the fields are not to bring forth a bumper crop. They should go to conference loaded down with evidence well condensed and we'll prepared for use on the wires. This is the only way they can convince the country. They mean well and if their skill in presenting infor- nation is up to their intentions they will put money in the farmers pockets. They have a good-sized task on their hands if they accept Commits siner Hudson's proposition looking to . conference.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-18
IN CRESCENT CITY

From the New Orleans Times-Democrat lHNHE Delta, in its issue of July 25, 1s4s printed long letter from the corre- A spondent of the Concordia Intelli- gencer sketching matters and things as he was able to observe them here at that time "A happy liberal sentiment in all
 things" said the correspondent, "has long characterized New Orleans Con science is essentially more free here then elsewhere in the United States. People worship as they please, or omit all ex- ternal forms if they prefer it, without comment. Men live poorly or luxuriously, in three-story house or in a hired room,
 without being subjected at every turn to an inquisitorial eye and an ill-natured
 tongue. In New England, in the true spirit of the blue laws, they fine man foi driving his own wagon through the streets on Sunday. In Baltimore I have known Jew tailor fined $20 for ventur- ing to patch traveler's unmentionables on the Sabbath In the city of Brook lyn the other day 5000 persons spontan- eously assembled to sympathize with un- happy Ireland and were dispersed by the mayor because it happened to be, by conventional chronology, the seventh day. In New Orleans things are quite the re- verse. Devout people have churches, and ministers are paid handsomely to preach to them to the tune in several instances. of as much as s10,0oo per annum. Gay peo- have their amusements also. The thea tres and bathrooms are open The rich drive in stately equipages on the shell road to breathe the breezes of the lake. The poor, with hearts full of gratitude for health and abundance, go to the numerous gardens to drink their beer. smoke their pipes, romp with their chill dren or waltz with their sweethearts. Our military sometimes turn out on the Sabbath, and if a brave soldier who has fought and suffered for his coun- try chances to arrive, it Is considered no offense to burn little gunpowder or to sound his welcome on the spirit-stirring drum. People at a distance will doubt less turn up the white of their eyes at all this, and perhaps be kind enough to pray that the fate of Gomorrah may not
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-18
THE soLACE OF A PIPE

Marryat. Jacob Faithful.
 His whole amusement was his pipe; and, as there is a certain indefinable link be- tween smoking and philosophy, my father, by dint of smoking, had become a philosopher. It is no less strange than true that we can puff away our cares with tobacco, when without it they re- main an oppressive burden to existence There is no composing draught like the draught through the tube of pipe. The savage warriors of North America en-
 joyed the blessing before we did; and to the pipe Is to be ascribed the wisdom of
 their councils and the laconic delivery of
 their sentiments. It would be well in-
 troduced into our own legislative assem- bly. Women, indeed, would no longer peep down through the ventilator; but we
 should have more sense and fewer words. Ii is also to tobacco that is to
 be ascribed the stoical firmness of those American warriors who, satisfied with the pipe in their mouths, submitted with perfect indifference to the torture of their enemies From the virtues of this weed
 srose that peculiar expression when you irritate another, that you put his pipe out
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-18
UNDERWOOD LATEST POSSIBILITY From the Omaha Bee (Rep.).

TOm IHe olIdDd Dtt tANtPstf
 That movement is at work in the south to promote the presidential can didacy of Chairman Underwood or the ways and means committee is not subject to doubt. The Houston Post, party or acle of the anti-Bryan persuasion, admits it and takes occasion to point out the seriousness of Mir. Bryans attack on Mr. Underwood because it "happens at time when MT Underwood is being widely mentioned as one worthy of the presiden- tiaI nomination. It would not be the best politics, though. to undertake to rear his boom on the basis of his fuss with Bryan
 In the same editorial thes Post con tends that MT. Underwood Is man of parts, or he would never be where he is in the party's councils and the nations service But as between MT. Underwood and Mir. Bryan this proves nothing Sure ly the Post would not admit that the dem ocratic party would three times nominate a candidate for President who was not a man of parts. MT Underwood's powers are quite freely admitted, and not until MT. Bryan's recent utterance, had we known of his integrity being publicly questioned.
 But the interesting feature of the Un- derwood candidacy is to be found in the evident determination of the south to re- gain ascendancy in national affairs if that be possible. It was at first felt that in order to foster this ambition, the south would unite with the east and promote the candidacy of Woodrow Wilson, a southern born and eastern bred man, but circumstances alter cases. So many things have happened since Dr. Wilson first loomed up on the. political horizon, so many other possibilities" have been brought forward as to make the south's position little uncertain. It will have to feel it's way to make no mistake. It will be very queer. though, if the majority of southern states shall go to Underwood. with Bryan on his back, in preference to a man of Governor Wilson's kind. The latter, however, may never be expected to suit the Bailey Bourbons, but they do not seem to be overwhelmingly in the ma jorlty just now.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-18

be ours. I give them thanks, but if iH will afford comfort, I venture to say thaq there is as much of genuine piety here of charity and good will, the very essenca of religion, as there is in any other cit
 and in no part of our country in so lare a community is there so little crime II is rare indeed that infractions or thel criminal law are charged upon the perma- nent citizens of New Orleans, and scarce- ly an instance where capital offenses have been brought to their doors Ninety-nne of every 100 misdemeanors are committed by strangers, and even among them such is the conservative atmosphere that seems to float around this community that crimes of the first magnitude occur only at long intervals
 There is a fixed population here of over 100000, increasing during the winter fully 5o0o0 more Thirty thousand troops and upward have been quartered in this city at different periods with more or less license, yet there has not been re- corded for 12 months a single murder. Assassination is unknowm Duels are be- coming rare. Ofenses against chastity and public decorum are of rare occur- renee. Here it is not considered an un- pardonable sin to kiss pretty woman. if she be willing. In Boston and Phila- eeiphia they will fine you $50 for every smack Here, where people dance on Sunday, that inestimables jewel, female virtue, is safe. There, to protect it, men bar their doors at night. So much for social restraints and savage sec- iarianisnn that pervades certain portions of our country. New Orleans derives It's elevated and liberal tone and the pure morality that exists here chiefly from the mixed and peculiar of the ancient and indigenous population of New Orleans. They have long understood the nature of social and political freedom. Mir Ga- yarre's very interesting notes on the hls- tory of Louisiana will show you that they were the first people on this continent to draw the sword for d free and repub- iican form of government, and the blood they poured out on that early altar of liberty still cries from the streets of this gay city, and will always nerve the . arms of Loulslanians in the battles off ffeedom.'' I