davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

When the captain and the snpercare reported the facts to MT. Astor upon their return he swore them to secrecy, and for r years he had the exclusive trade in san daWood between the Sandwich Islands and China. No other concern in the United States or England knew the secret, nor was it discovered until shrewd Bos-yn ship owner detailed ia ship 10 follow one of Astor's feet and observe everything Therefore for a few years the Boston house participated in this most valuable trade
 John Jacob Astor made millions in furs but he made more millions in sandal wood and tea. Business certainly was conducted on strange lines in those days and especially the business of the govern ment of the United States. It was in the height of Astor's business in the China trade that he launched his great scheme for the conquest of the West that founding of Astoria, that founda-
 tion of civilization which though count ed a failure at the time, was the most brilliant achievement of his remarkable career
 He would send a ship out to the Pa- cfic. to Oregon. with supplies for the Northwest, and then have her load with
 furs for China, where they would be sold at 6 large price, Then the ship would take cargo of tea which would he brought 10 New oIk- lne ted Noblu be sold at auction to the wholesale grocers who would give their notes at four or six months. The duty was enormous, amounting to I5 cents a pound, but the nine to twelve or even eighteen months
 to the importer, at his option. For oisl-
 teen years John Jacob Astor had what actually was loan from the United States government of millions of dollars without interest. He always took the longest time the government would give. In this of course he was well within l good business rules.
 The gift of that East India company permit may have been considered wind 1 fall. The purchase of the firewood by
 the mandarin may have been proof that ] John Jacob Astor was lucky. But there
 was one more striking evidence that he was favored of the gods-and> that was 1 in the selection of his wife. l No doubt MT. Astor was wonderful business man. But his wife had great
 CT mind for business than he. judgment was unering and he knew it. She was most devoted and loving wife, and all through the period of her hus- bands struggle sine counseled and ad- vised him at every step. When pros rerity dawned and money began 10 come in in showers she gave signal proof of her fine business mind. John said she to her husband one day. If vou want the benefit of my ad-
 vice in any matter of business at any time you vii have to pay for it. You
 would have to pay a lawyer for advice you must pay me
 And he did. From that time on. when ever John Jacob Astor consulted his wife on a business matter. he paid her and at the rate af $500 an hour. Copyright, 1911. by Richard Spilane.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

EHoR some reason Washington Irving, biographer of John A Jacob Astor, omitted in his chronicle of the life of that great man some quaint and remarkable features that well might have been set down. If you take Irving's account, As tor made his money in the fur business He did make a lot of it, but he never would have been the richest man in America, as he was before he died, if it had not been for some strokes of good fortune of which Irving made no men tion.
 It is supposed that Irving wrote his life Of Astor to please the great million sire, and left out those things that Astor did not care to have read by posterity and dwelt at length upon the particular lines that Astor was most proud of in his busy career Really there was no good cause for omission for there was nothing in Astor's life so far as is known, that was not highly creditable. The real, the true story of the early struggles of Astor of his strokes of luck, of his courage and the part his wife played in his success would have afforded far better basis for picturesque writing than with which Irving furnished his tale
 It was just at the close of the revou- tionary war that young Astor came to
 
 made his way to New York within a few weeks to find his brother Henry, who had preceded him to this country. There is pleasant fiction that man who was aboard the ship that brought Astor across the Atlantic became interested in him and advised him that there was more money in the fur business than in sell ing musical instruments, as he had plan ned to do in America and as result of this kind mans advice young Astor point ed right for New York and plunged right in tho fur business
 It was a far different thing than deal ing in fur that John Jacob Astor made his living at for he first year or two Brother Henry was butcher boy in the Oswego market in Broadway, at the spot where the Singer Tower now stretches to- ward the clouds. The butcher boy took the immigrant to the house of George Dieterch in Queen. now Pearl street,and lodged him in the garret. Dieterich was a baker,
 The next morning John Jacob Astor with a little basket on his arm. prone naded the streets, selling cookies and cakes He could not speak enough Eng fish to make himself understood to most persons, but he managed to get one GUS toner that first day who patronized him all through his life as a cake peddler This customer was Aunt Katy, wife of Abraham Binnger The husband kept a little grocery store at the corner of Att gusta street, now City Hall place. and Aunt Katy, to supplement the family earnings, had improvised a little stand of her own in front of the grocery. There she sold pipes, snuff tobacco and cand- ies and gossipped with the passers by
 When the immigrant lad came along that morning with his basket of Mrs. Dieterich's good cakes Aunt Katy had an inspiration. She called young Astor
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

over and made deal with him. She
 bought most of his stock and added it to the attractions of her own emporium. Thereafter,' for more than a year and a half, John Jacob Astor delivered cakes
 and cookies to Aunt Katy in the morning and then went about town peddling what remained.
 Then he branched ont for himself. He
 opened toy store. He made a little
 money at this as he had at selling cakes | and tarts. But the greatest profit that
 cake business or from the toy shop was his improvement in language, in teach ing him patience, grounding him in the art of trading, giving him opportunity to study men, to read faces. to judge character And then it was that he began
 to do a little business in the fur line He bought pelts now and then. He made a few dollars, and after while closed his toy shop. He bought lot of cheap jewery, knives, forks, spoons and other utensils, bound them in a pack, pnt the pack on his back and started ont to the Indian country to trade. The Indian country was not for off in those days West of Albany. out in the Mohawk val ley. the people of Joseph Brant, of Molly Brant and the Five Nations held sway
 although Joseph Brant was in Canada. Astor stayed ont on his trips as long
 as his stock of cutlery and near jewelry
 tasted. Then, with his peltries on his
 pony back and his excess load on his own back. he would go to Albany and ship the stuff down the river. Month after
 month and year after year he did this He made money steadily but was not
 making any great fortune. There were others in the fur business making for
 more than Astor.
 He got tired of the hardship of travel
 of the danger and the exposure. and
 travelled back to New York to go out no more. After that the others did the
 pedding: he did the buying. He had been four or five years in the fur busi-
 ness. before he saw daylight. His bro
 ther was disgusted with him. His bro ther Henry, the butcher boy of the Os- wego market. had advanced famously in the world He now was a boss butcher and had stand of his own in the Ely market. He looked down upon and pa tronized John Jacob and he had reason to do so. John Jacob had to go to him regularly for assistance. Occasionally it was to borrow 800, S100 or $200. At other times it was to indorse a note. Henry
 Astor became so weary of his borrowing brother that at last he told him that II he would make a pledge. to him never to
 ask him for further accommodation he
 would make him a present of $l00. John Jacob took the matter under advisement. The next day he accepted his brother s proposition. got the hundred and there after managed to meet his engagements, although many times he was hard press ed. It was less than year after this compact was made between the brothers that John Jacob had his first great stroke of fortune. The commcn pelts he bought were marketable and there was a small profit on them. but he had great diff culty in disposing of his higher grade l pelts such as beaver. This market was
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

Copyright, 1911, by Frank G. Carpenter) WHAr arr-nss"sn's S",'a''s''1s is uncle
 w Sam, patriarch making for @s his American children? It is all right to talk about peace, but war with a foreign nation is likely to come at any moment. Uncle Sam has no chip on his shoulder, but he will have to- fight if occasion demands. Just before our fleet made it's pyrotechnic tour of the Asiatic waters Mr Elihu Root, then in President Roosevelts cabinet. made some remarkable statements regarding a pos sible war with Japan. This was to party of newspaper men. He did not mention the Japanese in so many words, hut everyone knew to whom he referred. Said he in substances:
 Many of the foreign nations are sen sitiye. Some of them look upon the voice of the press as the voice of the nation, and l beg you newspaper writers to be careful about what you say as to for eigners. YourOkords may be taken as an insult. and you must remember that a nation is like man. E it's feelings are insulted and outraged it must fight"
 The way he said this at that time when the treasury box of the mikado was empty, made me think of the condition of a poor man in the streets down at the heels, with a family half starving. All of the mans interest might demand that he keep out of trouble, but if some one came up and hit him in the face without provocation. or called him a liar, he would have to fight; he could do no other.
 Take the case of the blowing mp of the Maine. However we may feel in the light of recent investigations at the time of the explosion we took 1t as insult and an outrage. and the result was our war with Spain
 sOnly few years before that President Cleveland sent message to England as. to the Venezuela complications that brought war clouds into the interna'ion- al sky. It was only through the forbear- ancc of John Bull that the heavens be- came cerulean. Another President may send a similar message to nation that will not be so forbearing. We may some time dictate to Germany and the warm- hlooded Kaiser. with the greed of South American Deutschland in his eye. may defy us and with his powerful army and navy smash the Monroe doctrine to pieces.
 Uncle Sar's Army
 s All this is preliminary to my investi- gaticns this week as to the American ar my and Uncle Sam's plans for making It big enough aud strong enough for any emergency. Much of my Information comes from the War department and 1t is based upon talks with the virile young secretary of war. MT. Stmson; the long experienced fighting chief of staff, Major General Leonard Wood, and number of others who rank high in the |, military affairs of the nation
 Tn the first place let me give you some idea of, what our army is and how it ranks with those of the world. ! shall take the peace strength. By the last
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

ton comprised between Meudon and Ivry.
 Tho galleries are eXcavated in lime stone. as at Carriere-S -Saint-D Denis; in gyp- sum, as at Argenteuil. or in white clay, as at Meudon, and the oldest of them those from which the architects of the middle ages took the stone and plaster that enabled them to erect the public buildings of Paris. form a labyrinth of low and narrow chambers in which the workmen often can scarcely move about without stooping But the more modern expoitations consist of spacious galleries, of which the roof is supported by strong pillars sawed out of the rock itself. Here the mushroom cultyator exercises his sombre profession at his ease.
 There exists in the department of the Seine about a50 mushroom installations owned by so individuals. not counting score of others distributed through the neighboring departments. The number of workmen employed in the industry ex- ceeds 1000, and the total value of the mushrooms annually produced in the SUI burbs of Paris amounts to 12,oOo,o0O francs.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10
Dom Paul Recalled
tbn IJartford Courant,

From the Hartford Courant
 It's quite true, as John Hays Hammond has been telling of one of the innumerabe lighbrow clubs of Boston, that the late Paul Kruger read his Bible very literally. had no belief in the sphericity of the earth. and had an undoubting belief in the existence of a real and horrific devil. It is also true that he did not love the Lit flanders and was not nice to them. There are other things to be remembered about Uncle Paul, however. In his youth he nightly reduced the surplus population of African lions. and in his old age he and his burghers made the British lion--for quite s spell-botl very furious and very
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

foyer discovery alone the army has earned five-eighths of its cost,
 ' Moreover" continued the secretarr. the army is one of our great educa- tional forces. Nearly every soldier has been to the Philippines or the West ln- dies and every officer has had the bene- fit of foreign travel. Our war wt;a Spain has brcadened us in our knowl- edge of geography. It has made us world power and we feel that we are a part of the whole world and a factor that must be considered as 10 all that goes on with it.",
 The army is also a training school in patriotism. 1t makes men and pa- triots. It offers opportunities to the anl- hitious. The West Point graduate is at tho beginning of his career when he leaves school. He has a short term in the service and if he makes good there he can continue his education in the schools at Fort Riley and Fort Leaven- worth and from there can advance to the war college at Washington and be part of the staff or brains of the army. The private has plenty of chance for advancement. He can rise to be aE officer and can make place for hi.i- self"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

three years, and then return to prlNate life to give place to others
 300,OOO Citizen Soldiers
 That is the proposed scheme for the national reserve, is it not?"
 ''Ycs that is one of the proposed plans. The idea is to make the army a great military training school and to pass through it as many men as possible in order to form from them d reserve upon which we could call in time of war. They would not be called out to subdue riots or strikes, but would be only used for the defense of the nation. As 1t is now about 30,00U men annually leave the army or the militia for civil life. f we could keep our hold upon these men and bring them together for a few days of train ng and maneuver each year we would in time build up d large reserve lighting force One idea was to cut down the term of enlistment to two years Instead of three, and to have the service expire al that time. This would bring a set of new young men numbering from 30,000 to B, 900 into military training every year. and 1t would add that many each year to our reserve fighting force. In six years at 50,O0D we might have S00,000 men in the national reserve and with the army and militia then Ee able to command in time of war 530O0O well trained soldiers. The national reserve would have short periods of military training each year or every other year, and they would be expected to continue their training for six years thereafter. The total time con sumed in this way during the six years would be about six months or an average of one month per year One idea would be to pay them something like S2 per month throughout the year. and for this they would keep us informed of their sc dresses and their movements.
 "This plan would keep our army com posed of young men and the national reserve would be greatly increased as time goes on. A young man going into the regular service at 20 and leaving at 22 would be in the national reserve proper until he was 2S, but if the na- ton demanded it he might make one of the units of an efficient fighting force for almost 20 years thereafter or until he was fl of IS years old. In the Swiss reserve the liability of service extends from the seventeenth to the end of the forty ghth year, and the actual service begins at the age of 20" Millions Needed for Arms and Am
 muniti0n
 But it would take millions of money to supply the arms and ammunition for such force" .A
 "Of course" replied the general but the army is a place where one cannot economize as to it's supplies. The only way to stop the waste is to stop the fighting. and often the great eXpedi ture of arms ammunition and men in battle is real economy. In time of war YOU cannot count the cost. The only way to economizc is by stopping the fighting and that through victory. As it is now, we are adding to our arms and ammunition as rapidly as possible.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

report of the secretary of war, the num-
 Der actually serving is little over So,-
 eco all told, with an authorized strength
 which brings it up to about 100.00O. We
 have now less than five thousand officers
 and 75,O0O men. The peace strength of the
 German army is 620,0o0 men, that of the
 French army 600,0O0 and of Great Brit ain 257,000. Little Switzerland can call two or three thousand men in the field
 at touch of the electric button, and
 Japan has now 450,000 men under arms.
 Our War Strength
 As to our var strength we are even worse off We have militia of 10000 men and the army could. upon occasion without further acts of Congress. perhaps put d few more thousand men in the field. Our fighting force, however, at best, could not be made more than 20O,- ool men and we should have to rely as
 we have il the past. upon volunteer troops made up of men who would have to be trained before they would be eff cient as fighters.
 On the other hand, every one of the great nations of Europe has from half a million to a million of reserves or men who have had experience in tn army and who are ready to take their places
 in the ranks at the call of their country. Great Britain has over 6G9,000 reserves, and it's total war strength Is S0000 Aus tria has about 1.500,0O0 reserves and France has the sa. ia, while Russia and Germany have each over 3.000.0O0. The total war strength of Germany is 4,Ooo,0oo and that of Russia is 50000o more France can call into the field more than 2.0GO,O ,OO0 soldiers, Austria Hungary 1S0o,- eco and little Japan can muster out 1.O00,0GO all told Italy has more than
 50a GOO. Sweden and Norway tetween 30oco and 100000 and Spain with peace strength equal to ours has 420,0O0 re- serves Outside of this each of these countries has large number or men who could be called into the Held Just as our volunteers are. and in some or tnem every man and boy is a soldier in that he has had q training in the regular
 army As I write this a graphic illustra : tion< of tho size of our army as com : pared with those of the other great bowers lies before me. It consists Of figures of mon draw wn to a scale. lh' nigmy representing the United states army is not as lcng as the nail or my thumb. while those of Germany ana Russia are as bis as my whole index finger As to the cavalry, the igufe which. represents Uncle Sam IS iiKe ' toy soldier on horse back, while France. Germany and Russis, are giants m un'- form on gigantic stceds This picture was made for the war coilese ~ ~.his year, and 1t is exact. It was givei. to me by the chief of staff.
 The Secretary and National Reserve We are accustomed to consider th@ l..litia a mighty addition to the army in ease war should arise. Uncle San, appreciates the value of these troops, and he is now having them trained in connection with the regular army and
 doing alf he can to hurmonize and unify
 the two systems Secretary Stimson,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

The secretary of war has 8 great re- spect for the army and says that 1t is worthy the respect of all the people Said he:
 "The army has done gread deal for the country, in addition to that for which it has credit. Take. for instance it's work in improved sanitation. You know of the object lesson at Panama where our troops practically wiped ma laria from the canal zone and gave us an object lesson which has made healthy many parts of the United States until now considered not so. It was the army which discovered how to wipe out the yellow fever. That was in Cuba, and it was through the information gained there that that terrible plague has been removed from our gulf and South Atlantic coast cities. Men inter- ested in the commerce of the south tel me that yellow, fever has in the past cost on the average something like s50,000,00 per annum. Now. it costs only about sS0,000,00O to maintain the army, so you see that in this yellow
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10

who has had a long experience in the New York militia, said to me that the value of that branch of the service might be greatly increased by giving
 it a closer association with the regular army. He says that the service has in the past at times lacked the force and efficiency that should come from companies of the character which have
 been called into action. The militia is so largely directed by the states that in times of trouble the national govern
 ment has found itself somewhat ham pered in it's efforts to use it. The sec retary believes in the militia, but be says we need in addition to 1t and in con- Junction with it a reserve force of
 regular troops who have had their mil itary training in the regular army and
 who have gone through the maneuvers with it from time to time This is a part of the plan for the national re- serve which has been proposed as a
 part of the defense of the nation. It is one which the chief of staff, General Wood. believes mibht be carried our with great profit.
 How the Swiss Do It
 In taking with General Wood about a national reserve and the reduction of the term of enlistment. he spoke of the effiency Of tho Swiss army plans, where kby that little republic is about to put
 more than coo eco men in the field. Said
 he
 "I spent some time in Switzerland not long ago, and during my stay there met many of the men belonging to the re- serves. Every man, in the country is a soldier, and is ready atsany moment to
 go to the field. I have stopped at little
 houses far up in the mountains, and
 have found the men who have their
 rifles and complete equipments realy
 for marching. Each has his instructions
 as 10 just what he is to do in case of Il
 telegram from the war department. He knows what railroad station he Is to go to. what train to take and for what point
 The plans are such that, although Switz- erland mas but a small standing army, it could call a force of two or three hun dred thcusand together within few days. Service in the national force. is compulsory and universal, those excused
 or rejected paying extraordinary taxes. The first training is gotten in the recruit
 schoolS, where tho men are required to serve 65 days for the infantry and the foot aiiilety 70 days for the field ar
 tillery and 90 days Tor the cavalry, After that they serve Il days annually. Phy- sical exercises and military training are given also to the schooIboys in the public schools, and as a result tho Swiss might have comparatively large army strength in time of war. The Swiss army is a national militia, and militia sc trainol would be very valuable to us.
 "I3ut that, of course, is impossible. We do not want compulsory military education in this country, but we might largely increase our force of trained men in private life by making the reg,i- lar army training school into which
 men might go for a period of two or
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-10
3OO,OOO Citizen Soldiers

,ree years, and then return to private