davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09

of his store, worked year after year and made no progress. Before he was 23 he knew the odds were heavily against him and that it was almost folly to con- tinue the struggle He knew it was the drift toward capitalization that was grinding him. More and more stores were coming under one control and under the control of concerns with big capital. They were able to undersell the little storekeepers, because buying in great quantities and taking advantage of cash discounts they could buy cheaper than the others They did business on a basis that made 1t impossible for the little fel- lows to compete They advertised wide ly, offered some staple article at such low figures that the price charged by the ordinary grocer seemed extortionate, and kept themselves always prominently be- fore the people. The little storekeepers could do nothing but hope for a change they knew in their hearts never would come.
 Harrison and his father struggled along patiently and well for ten years and then gave it up. They did it none too soon, for little was left. The fathers spirit was broken, but the young mans best abilities were only beginning to be de- veloped. He had become a student of his
 
 sides, and he was firm in the belief that he.had discovered the one certain avenue to success.
 When he sold out and closed the Bos- ton store Harrison came to New York and made tour of the suburban towns within radius of 30 miles. Although his money was none too plentiful, he exhib- tied no haste in his search. He knew ex- actly what he wanted, and after a few weeks seach he found it. In Jersey town, less than twenty miles from the city and which may be called Westboro, he found conditions such as he sought. There were various grocery establish Fments. All extended credit to their pat rons. The class of residents was good. There were few local industries Nearly all the house owners worked in New York. There. were many rich people. There was a big country club. Within eight miles or so there were half dozen other high class suburban communities.
 The place Harrison rented was not im- posing, but from the day he opened his Westboro store he upset established GUS tom in the grocery line in that town. He had comparatively small, but certainly a select stock. In no place did he dis play cabbages, potatoes, turnips or vege- tables of that class. His show window
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09

them, just like a woman, slipped Paris aside, and tried to bribe him to decide in her favor Minerva got him off in the bushes and offered him wisdom. Juno walked him up the side of a mountain and promised him power, while Venus slyly whispered, Decide for me and you shall have the prettiest girl of the whola world for your wife. That fixed Paris. He at once decided for Venus, and sine gave him Helen, the wife of Menelaus. He carried her home. and the fuss that Menelaus made brought about the great Trojan war"
 Taken From Life
 The statues of the Athens Museum are wonderfully lifelike. They seem to be portraits, and were evidently posed for by the models of the time There is now museum on the Acropolis, which com- prises a collection of objects taken from the ruins of the Pantheon and the build : ings about It has half dozen statue , of women, the faces of which were un- doubtedly cut from women as models There are busts of men made the same way, so that the museum is really DOT trait gallery of the heroes of more than 2000 years ago.
 One of the most striking statues of Athens is the marathon runner. who brought the news of the victory of Agam- emnon. He ran from the battle of Mar
 
 hours, whereas the fastest four-horse teams dragging a chariot could not make the distance in less than four. As the story goes, he dropped dead as he de- livered the news.
 Golden Jewels From the Tombs
 The tombs of old Greece have yielded many medallions and gems which are por- traits and there are masks of gold, into which have been pressed features so life tJ-.. l,nt I.- have the photograph of one representing the face of an old man, which would probab bly, serve as a portrait of sthe origi- nal, except that 1t has lost the tip of it's nose. There are golden cups with faces upon them and vases of dull gol1 beautifully carved. Some of these cups would hold two quarts of wine. and there are gold masks as large as the tin wash basin outside the back door of the Amer ican farmhouse.
 The collections of jewelry are very re- markable. They have come from the ancient cities of Greece and show the follies and vanties of fashionable life 2500 years ago. I saw the skull of a woman with a gold pin that once bound her tresses imbedded in it. Time and decay had glued it to the vertebrae of her neck. I saw scores of gold rings for the fingers, gold anklets and brace lets and great rings for the biceps, made of pure gold. Some of these arm rings were three or four inches wide. They were of the finest gold and they came from Mycenae
 I am surprised at the condition of the gold jewelry The most of it is as bright as when it was made, and a great de al of 1t Is exquisitely carved. Some of the patterns are the same as those used to- day. There are gold bracelets with snakes heads at the end; there are brace- lets or gold coils, and there are dozens of big gold buttons, some of which have holes through which the thread passed I noticed one gold mask with the skull still sticking to it and mans shin. bone to which. a gold greave was fastened
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09

h HARRISON was born 10 groceries . To the tens of thousands of little \ ! storekeepers of America his story should be an inspiration. In his own way, through years of struggle and de- feat, he studied and finally solved a problem that is a puzzle and night mare to many of them. What he did others may do It rests with them. The task should be easier from the knowl- edge of what he did.
 The earliest recollections Harrison has is of playing around the barrels and the boxes in his fathers store in Boston. He remembers how he used to peep out over the counter at the customers, how he toyed with the scales and the weights and with what wonder he gazed upon his father as he deftly measured out food stuffs or wrapped bundles for the pur- ohasers. That store was his little world, and when he grew bigger and was able to assist in the selling or occasionally in the delivery of goods he was very proud of himself Then came the school perod He never cared much for books, but studied because he had. to, and un-
 
 learning than he appreciated. When he was 16 he quit school. His father had planned collegiate course for him, but had to change the programme.
 After the leisure and freedom and frol- ics of school days the return to the store rather grated on Harrison. The busi- ness had lost the charm of early days. There was more of drudgery than he had supposed, and it was long time before he could content himself with the weari- some hours and the curtailment of mary of the pleasures and recreatons to which he had become accustomed. Few healthy, spirited youths take with good grace to such work in the days when their blood is warm, and they long for adventure. Harrison often became rebelious. Now and then he kicked over the traces and when he returned to work and his father overlooked his conduct with only a mild word of reproof he felt ashamed of him. self.
 It was not until he was 21 that he real ized the patience and consideration of his father. Then the father took him into partnership and explained why it was the boy had not been sent to college. Somehow the profits of former years had dwinded Times had changed, conditions had changed. and people had changed. There was more credit business than formerly. There were more bad &C., counts. The growth of the city had al tered the complexion of the neighbor- . hood. The stad old families that had been the customers of the Harrison store for twenty years had moved away. Flats and tenements had taken the places of many of the old dwellings. There was an influx of foreigners. With the in crease in population there was an n- crease in stores.
 The Harrison store, long established, we'll managed and handling first-class goods, commanded the best trade, but suffered from the excessive competition. It barely paid expenses. The net profits
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09

Copyright, 1911, by Frank G. Carpenter.)
 Athens.
 A IL Greece is one great museum" "A said my native guide, Constan- 4 \ tine, as we walked through the wonderful collections at Athens. GO down into the earth anywhere and you may find choice marbles, graceful pot tery and carved golden jewelry, which were used in the days of Homer and Hesiod. Every time foundation Is dug something new is discovered, and many of the great finds have originated by accident. The whole country Is a treas ure house, whose vaults need only the pick and spade to unlock them"
 I was struck with this fact as I walked through the National Museum today. At its entrance is corridor filled with broken statues of beauty eaten by salt water and half covered with shells They were taken from the sea near the Island of Kythera, only short time ago. The Greeks were diving for sponges when they came upon the wreck of an ancient vessel lying 100 feet below the surface. It was filled with bronzes, marble statues and other objects of art, dating back to some years before Christ. Where the marble was exposed to the water it had been eaten away and its beauty largely destroyed Where covered with sand it
 
 lost. There Is one head. for Instance, which is perfect. while the body is honeycomb of mold and decay.
 Among the bronzes taken from that vessel is statue of Paris, or more than life size, which has been allotted the place of honor in the bronze room of the museum. It represents the nude figure of youth who is stretching out his right hand. and evidently giving a Grimes Golden apple to the goddess whom he has picked out as most meautiful. The bronze is of a rich old green. and 1t stands on a pedestal. The statue came up broken, but 1t has been restored by artists from Paris at g. cost of s20,000, and 1t is now esteemed one of the great est of the new finds from the ancient world
 The Judgment of Paris
 As we looked at this, Constantine, who makes his living in explaining archeolog- ical subjects to tourists. asked me to sit while he told the story. I did so, and he continued, as follows:
 Long, long ago. before the poet Homer lived, and when Greece had just begun to be great. there were three goddesses Minerva, Juno and Venus, playing about in the woods near this city. They were all proud and all beautiful. Each thought she was the prettiest, and they quar- reled as they looked over each other and compared the points of their beauty Juno showed her ankles, Venus her legs and Minerva boasted of her muscles and bust. They quarreled a long time, but could come to no understanding. when Juno up and said: "I am willing to leave 1t to any judge you other girls may pick out that I am the beautffulest! Me, too.' said Venus and Moi Aussi and lcn auch,' cried the Goddess Minerva. After some discussion they picked out thls young Paris. whose bronze we have here and left the decision to him. Paris was the son of Priam. one of the kings of this region. He had a golden apple, and he was to give this to the prettiest of she ladies' In the meantime, each of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09

There are also many metal hand mirrors and needles, combs and household uten- sils
 The Parthenon and Its Grafters
 Ihere Is no better place to study old Greece than right here in Athens. You imbibe the spirit of the ancients in tramping over the hills where they lived. You see their wonderful works in tha museums; you meet with their portraits In the statues; and among the ruins which are scattered almost everywhere you can easily rebuild the famed struc- lures of the past
 Take the Parthenon, the remains of which lie on the Acropolis, on the very edge of modern Athens, They were built upon solid rock of pink marble which ended in plateau of about 10 to 15 acres This space is now covered with ruins, and a large portion of the great struc- ture still stands. I went over 1t today and made photographs of some of the columns, discovering queer things about it's construction. One is that the build ing was largely graft. The columns on the outside are of excellent marble, and they stand well today. Those with in another part, which could not be seen. or which probably at first looked as we'll as those farther out, were backed with inferior stone, and the marble there Is now rotting away The stone is chip ping off and the beauty of the old col umns is fast disappearing.
 The Parthenon in 1911
 I wish I could show you the Parthe- non. Every one has read of it, but it is impossible to comprehend 1t just S it is Ina zine forest of marble col uinns which rise from a marble floor, the area of which is nearly an acre Let each column be as big as a cart wheel and let it rise to the height of a three-story house in the most sym metrical forms of artistic beauty. Let 1t be fluted. and let the capitals, rich in their plain Doric grace, uphold a wall of marble, around which runs q frieze of exquisite carvings and YOU have the skeleton of the building. The interior contains other colmns, which upho old the roof, the whole forming a temple which was regarded as the most beautiful of the known world.
 Today the PartheDon is visible for miles around Athens. It Is the first | thing seen on approaching the Pirac GUS, | and 1t stands out far above the plain upon which Athens lies. great part of the building has been carried away, and | it's most beautiful carvings are in the | British museum at London. They were | taken there many years ago by Lord | E1gin, who got permit from the sul- | tan authorizing him ito remove a few blocks of stone from Athens to Eng l land." The cost of the transportation of | those few blocks was $1S0.000, from | which you can see that shiploads must | have been carried away
 The columns of the Parthenon were | made in sections, which were placed one | on top of the other. Some of these | sections are scattered over the Acrop- | oils and not few stand on the plat form I photographed an american girl sitting on one, which gives fair idea of the diameter. and made, also pie ture of myself as I measured the cir conference.
 The Parthenon was begun about 2400 years ago. It was a temple,a put up to the Goddess Athene or Minerva, whose
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09

tickets were allowed to be issued, and this number was subsequently, increased to 25000O. Of late years some of the funds of the lottery have been applied to the navy, and the number of tickets is now more than doubled, being 60o,000. The lottery has 255 prizes. The first is $500O' the second $500, the third SiOO, the fourth s25o, and the fifth s1oO After this there gre 90 prizes of S20 each and 200 of Sl0 each.
 The average net yield of the lottery until recently was about $50 GOO. and alto gether it has produced several hundred thousand dollars. This sum has been spent in excavating the old cities of in- lerior Greece, in establishing museums and in historical and archaeological re- search. The lottery is a popular insti tuition, and every one patronizes 1t.
 American Excavations at C0rinth
 Some of the most interesting eXcava- tions of today are those being made by our American students at Corinth The site of that old city was given to our Athens Archaeological school, which is supported by some of the leading colleges of the United States. and the students have been at work there for number of years.
 I took the train and rode out to Cor inth few days ago. The town lies about three or four hours from Athens on the Isthmus of Corinth, not far from the western mouth of the Corinth canal. 1t may be reached by boat through the canal, starting from the Piraeus. or by railway. Old Corinth was situated about five miles from the present town, and it once probably covered the site of the latter. It was, you know the great com mercia city of Greece, and was at the height of it's glory five or six hundred years before Christ. It was a great trad ing center in the days of our Savior, and was then noted for its manufactures of iron and dye stuffs. as well as for It's wealth and luxury. The city was rival of Rome as to trade. It contained about rocco people, and was 12 miles in cir conference.
 Corinth once rebeled against Rome and the Romans besieged and destroyed u. They sold its inhabitants into slavery, and for 100 years it lay desoate. This was 14e years before Christ was born. Caesar refounded the town. and 1t was again great during the days of St. Paul, who lived there for while and estab- lished a church. The city was then noted for it's luxury, frvolities and immorali- ties, and St. Paul takes account of this in his Epistles to the Corinthians.
 At the Fountain of Pirene
 Among the excavations of the Amer jeans are those of the waterworks and 1Ounta1n or Olu toTlHtn, WHICH Weie leu by the spring of Pirene, at which you remember the famed winged horse Paga- sus came to drink when 1t was caught by Bellerophon. It Is said that the spring gushed forth Pegasus struck the earth with his hoof. The fountain itself dates back from three to six centuries before Christ. The water flows out of lions heads into a square pit of marble Our school has found the remains of the old aqueduct through which the water was carried and it has taken out masses of marble beautifully carved. This fountain was near the market place of the old city. much of which has been exhumed, and some of the shops of which can
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09

It is ridiculous that honest people should suffer so, but it is so. Otherwise the grocer who extends credit would go bankrupt. Many of them go broke re- gardess of the manner in whichsthey arc forced to protect themselves by raising their prices to those who do pay their debts
 Tt is all wrong. madam, and l hope you will pardon me for saying it, but it is the result of womans extravagance. It may be a trife inconvenent to pay cash on delivery, but because you do 1ot do it you pay b cents a day more for groceries than you should The same is true regarding other things. One of the true regarding other things. One of the banes of this country is the credit sys- tenn. have come 10 Westboro to see if I cannot make a living dealing with the people of this town who want to save
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09

 was arranged to attract the eye and tempt the palate. He had studied colors in the last year in Boston and knew their values and their harmonies In- stead of the regulation show of grocer he exhibited some of the finest fruit, daintiest salad and rarest of delicacies Westboro ever had seen. There was en- dive. every head of which was perfect. There were brussels sprouts fresh from the garden, celery that made the mouth water, asparagus that told it's own story. Then there were apples that were de- light to the eye, oranges that were beau tiful, pineappes that gave forth a de- lightful perfume and multitude of other friuts and vegetables. some of which were out of season. They would not have appeared so charming but for the manner in whicn they were arranged Unconsciousy every person who looked at them was pleased. Some Westboro men who had never given more than a perfunctory glance at a grocery in that town stopped and gazed at Harrison's. window. One or two went in. A few others asked if the store was not a new one. When they heard it was they said, | "1uhl'' and went their way. The women | of Westboro appreciated the attractive window display as much, if not more, | tnan the men. "A 1dlf Hul0DPr or tAen
 visited the establishment and looked it over. Everything was neat as a pin. The same attention to harmony was dis played inside the store as in the win dow
 Harrdison gave personal attention to | every caeH Some of the visitors intro- duced themselves and said they would
 favor him with portion of their GUS tom, they were so much pleased with his pretty store. They were pleased and surprised, too, at the low prices he sold at As evidence of their good will they ordered some things. Harrison had the stuff delivered to those who asked that | it be sent to them, out he sent it, c. O. D. Some of the persons paid although | they were not in the habit of paying the grocer except by the week or month. Others, when informed that the rule of Mir Harrison was strictly cash got angry and sent the boy and the goods back. | They considered Harrison impertinent and wanted him not only to know it, but one irate woman went to the length of going to the store to express her opinion of him.
 Harrison listened to her patiently, and when she finished he said to her: | Madam, how much do your grocery bills amount to a monthss"
 l About $50,'' she replied
 | Would you rather pay $50 and have charge account or pay s45 and pay cash?'' | he inquired. You know s5 a month means $6o year. That would purchase a handsome gown or other articles d woman loves."
 "Why, what do you mean?" she asked Just this" he said in his most cam est and impressive manner. That you and every other honest person is penal ized under the present credit system You not only pay for what you buy, but you are saddled with the bad debts of the grocer who has charge customers.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09

money and escape being punished for the sins of the dead beats. I know the sro- cery business from the bottom up. I am proud of it. I am paying spot cash for every article I buy, and I am going to sell only for cash. I am going to give to my patrons the benefit of every advant- age I obtain by reason of buying for cash. I am not going to handle any thing but first-class goods. Whether ] succeed or not in Westboro 1t is certain that the other groeers will have to carry the bad accounts while I am here. They are not for me. l am going to look for trade on a common sense, economic basis. I expect to get 1t. I may have long fight to overcome the foolish custom which is proving so costly to honest peo- pie, but in the long run l am inclined to think will triumph"
 The woman who had been so angry did
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09

being only three and one-half feet in height and made entirely of marble.
 Excavating by Lottery
 The modern Greeks are anxious that new excavations should be everywhere made. They are spending great deal upon archaeological research, and they have department of antiquities connect ed with the ministry of education, at the head of which is an official who gets about Sl4.O00 year. They have raised a great deal Of money for excavating old Greece by means Of lottery. and tlcKets are now sold on the streets at 20 cents each, which gives you chance to make q fortune, and at the same time aid in digging up the past. At first only 100000
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09
How the partnon Is RongThis the Graft of the

statue was erected within. The statue was made by Phidas. It was of gold and ivory and was 421s feet in height. It is supposed that the Inner kernel of the figure consisted of wood, upon which the form of the Athene was modelled in some plastic material, and that this in turn was covered With plates of ivory and gold. The ivory formed the nude portions of the figure, while the gold represented the gar ments. The value of the gold in the statue was about three quarters of a million dollars There is an imitation of this statue in the National museum
 It Is pygmy, however, in comparison with the great statue of the Parthenon