davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-04-19
Captain Gracie's Story

Associated Press.
New York, April 1S-Col. Archi-'
bald Oracle, U. S. A., the last man
saved on the Titanic went down with
the vessel but was picked up. He
told a remarkable story of personal
hardship and denied emphatically the
report that there was any panic
aboard.
He praised in the highest terms
the behaviour of both. passengers
and crew. and paid high tribute
to the heroism of the women passen-
gers.
Mrs Isador Strauss. he said, went
to her death because she would not
desert her husband Although he
pleaded with her to take a place in
the life boat, she steadfastly refused
and when the ship settled by the
head the two were engulfed by the
waves.
Graice told how he was driven TO
the top most deck when the ship set
tied and was the sole survivor after
the wave that swept her just before
the final plunge was taken.
Swept From the Deck
II jumped with the wave just as
often have jumped with the break
ers at the seashore," he said by
great good fortune | managed tc
grasp to the brass railing on the
deck above and hung on by nigh
and main. When the ship plunged
: down | was forced to let go and
swirled about and around for wha
seemed an interminable time Event
, ually ! came to the surface to finC
the sea a mas sof wreckage.
Luckily I was unhurt. and cast
, ing about managed to seize a wood
en- grating floating nearby Whel
! recovered my breath / discoveret
: a large canvass and cork life raj
2 which floated up. A man who's
r name did not learn. was struggling
toward il. | cast of and helped hin
D to get onto the raft. We then be
: gan to rescuing the people founder
ing in the sea.
The Life Raft.
e When dawn broke there wer
thirt yof US on the raft, standin
knee deep in icy water and afraid 4
move lest the cranky craft be over
" r.. ~
Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-04-19
Cattle Market.
Associated Press.

Associated Press.
Kansas City, Mo. April lS-Cat-
tie steady TO 10 cents lowe export
steers $40 TO $3.50. Eggs ; CEN
higher: heavies $3.50 to $S.o5. Sheep
10 to - cents higher
Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-04-19
Cotton Market.
Associated Press.

New Orlaens, La, April lS-Cot-
ton futures closed steady at net ad-
vance OF to III points. Spots firm
and lie up.
Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-04-19
Newspaper Mans Story.

Associated Press.
New York, April 1S-How the tt
tanic sank was told by Charles F.
Hurd, a staff correspondent of the
Evening World, who was a passen-
ger on the Carpathia tonight. and
furnished that paper with his &C
count
He gives the number Of lives lost
as 1,700. He praises highly the
courage of the crew, hundreds OF
whom gave their lives with heroism
which was equalled but could not be
exceeded, his account says, by that
of John Jacob Astor. Henry B. Har-
ris, Jaques Furtrelle and others in
the long list Of first cabin passen-
gers.
1t wa sthe explosion Of the boilers,
according to Hurd's account, which
finally finished the Titanic's career
The bulkhead system. though prob
ably working, prevailed only to delay
the ships sinking. The position OF
the ships wound on the starboard
quarter admitted the icy water
which caused the boilers TO explode
and these explosions broke the shiI
in two.
Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-04-19

Associated Press
New York, /Aprl 1s-How the
White STAR per. Titanic the largest
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21
DEVELOP YOUR BUST IN l5 DAYS
A Full Firm Bust is
 Worth More to q Woman than Beauty

l don't care how thin you are. how old you are. how fallen and flaccid are the lines of your figure or how flat your chest is, 1 can give you full, firm. youthful bust quickly. that will be the envy of your fellow-women and will give you the allurements of a perfect womannOod that will be irresistible. They say there Is nothing new under the sun but
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21

Copyright, 1912. by Frank c. Carpenter.)
 Gorgona, Canal Zone. Panama. I WANT to show you the greatest indus
 trial exposition the world has to offer. \ It is now in operation on the canal zone. It is not a desd mass of silent machinery, but great. noisy, whirlng combination, drilling. digging and blast ing a gorge through the longest moun- tain chain upon earth. It includes mighty dredges which are conuuering the ocear, and a myriad of trains which are moving material faster than the widest creations of the dreams of Aladdin.
 Much of this exposition has already been pictured. but the parts I shall show you today are outside the great ditch. They are not engaged in the work itself, but in keeping the mighty forces in good or der. I refer to the repair shops of the isthmus There are tens of acres Of them, roofed with galvanized iron and in habited with thousands of mechanics who are creating new machinery and re- pairing and strengthening that now in use There are vast warehouses filled with all kinds of supplies, from the bits of steel as fine as a needle to the mighty arms which lift the steam shoveis, from the finest silk thread to cables as thick as your leg and from the hard bits of wood used in patterns to the 1og-like blanks for repairing the Lidgerwood cars
 Right here at Gorgona are more than 21 acres of machinery engaged in making repairs, and at Empire, only about six miles away, are other great shops where steam shovels are erected, locomotives mended and broken heavy machinery of all kinds made new. There are smaller repair shops at Pedro Miguel and Gatun devoted to the construction equipment of the locks nearby. and. at Cristobal and Balboa, still others devoted to keeping the big dredges in order The variety of work is beyond conception, but you can learn something of it by the story of what I saw today
 Uncle Sam's Machine Shops At Cor
 gona
 Take, for instance, Gorgona. This is the biggest repairing establishment Uncle Sam has on the isthmus. It was begun by the French, and when I was here in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21

so strong that the rocks can be dyna- mited on the cars if they are too large to go through the door opening.
 In the Locomotive Works
 All sorts of repairs are made on cars and locomotives here at Gorgoua The shop has record of having repaired 12, coo cars in 10 months. and at the samo time having made heavy repairs on about S00 unloaders, 800 spreaders and 40 track shifters. It builds new track shifters as well. and it Is fully equipped for repairing locomotives and all other rolling stock. The locomotives as they come into the shops are stripped of their rods and other outside equipment. The next operation is to take out the driving wheels
 The shops have no large overhead cranes. such as we use In the states, so they have an invention or their own con sistins of drop pit above which the loco motives stand and the wheels are re- moved by compressed air. It used to be that the engines had to be lacked up, and it took several hours to get the wheels out from one engine. AS it is now full set of wheels can be removed in 30 min utes. There are other arrangements for recutting the wheels, including great lathes which will gouge off one-fourth of an inch of metal at a time, the steel roll ing off in curls like those of excelsior.
 Cutting Iron With Acetylene
 Indeed the iron working machinery at Gorgona is wonderful You can see every form of iron and steel creation. They have an iron foundry here. where they make about 7O0oo0 pounds of casting in d month. The work is done by Jamaica negroes, under the superintendency of Americans. They have also brass foun- dries and everything connected with cop per and tin.
 Tn the iron works I saw them cutting immense blocks of steel with a blow pipe The flame was a mixture of oxy- gen and acctylene. and 1t melted right through the iron as though the lattel were butter. l was told that the prin- ciple was that of the blow pipe, and that the pipe was fitted with a double nozzle the first of which carried oxygen and acetylene and turned the iron to red heat The second nozsIe carried stream of pure oxygen, and this playing on tn, heated iron made if burn like wood. II was just like cutting a piece of pine with q red-hot poker. save that the worl was more quickly done The steel block I saw cut was about eight inches thick The man who handled the blow pipe wore green goggles, incased in dust protectors to shield his eyes from the flames. I pho tographed him at work.
 The Safebreakers Wanted It
 As saw this flame cutting Into the iron I asked the engineers whether il
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21
HOW BIRMINGHAM'S PUBLIC LIBRARY
 WORK IS CONDUCTED
Continued From Previous Page)

tContinued From Previous Page) ~~-~~~~~>~~~-~~~~~~~--- ~~---~-~~~---~~~~~--~~~~~ worried and worn more from my own ability to fathom the ladys mind and just what she was looking for than any, thing else, I said:
 .' Would you mind telling me just what it is that you wish to find out?
 % Certainly will she replied. I belong to a Debating Society, and we have the subject, q am the Light of the World; Ye are the Salt of the Earth" and I have to take the side of Light and I surely thought I could get some sort of books here to show me how to write my side
 People who come for books do not all ways want what they want because they want It said Miss Chapman, but more frsqgently because other people have told thshn about the book All the world of advertising can't do for book what a word of mouth recommendation can do. I just read so and so,' one person will tell another and straightway that person will come for the book"
 Then it would be good idea for writ CTS who want to make their books among the Six Best Sellers to adopt this method of employing enthusiastic friends to boost them.'
 That's very true" Miss Chapman re- piled, "and that brings us to a subject which is often discussed namely, the Librarians Pet So often we are ac- cused of partiality of giving one person a book and refusing it to another, but this ism true. Supplying the reading pub lie with the most popular of current fic- ton is the economic problem of feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fishes You see, we have what we call Duplicate Rent Collection; that is, dupli- cates of the popular fiction which can be had for cent a day. The others are what we term shelf copies, and, of coursei can never be reserved. The result is that there are usually about 15O0 people, more or less, waiting for copy of book which everybody want1. That's the way the impression comes about of some peo- pie never being able to get what they want at a library"
 How many patrons have you?' asked
 "Including the three branch libraries we have about 12,OOO.' said Miss Chapman
 Are there many children included-the coming generation as 1t were?'' I asked
 "A great many" Miss Chapman said. You can see them any time during the day coming in for books, exchanging books and chatting about their favorites" z"
 (Which are?'' inquired.
 Fairy tales. largely was the reply Hans Anderson and Grimm are both popular. Louise Alcott is very much in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21

1905 it had just been cut out of the jungle. When we bought the canal the engineers did not know of it's existence It was hidden in a dense vegetation and they were surprised when they found build ing covering half a dozen acres, con- taining complete equipment of machine tools, including stationary engines and over 100 carloads of foundry and machine shop supplies. The works were at once renovated and put to repairing the French machinery for use on che canal. At ths time I first saw them they had already repaired thousand dump cars. 80 or D locomotives and large number of cranes. excavators, and drills. Among these was an old French excavator which was nut Into service in the Culebra cut and used nearly IS months, until replaced by a steam shovel.
 Shortly after that time the government decided to make this it's chief shop and since then 1t has been doing the most of the repairs with the exception of that on the dredges During this trip I saw men at work on the heaviest of the canal equipment handling the masses of iron and steel which weigh many tons and can only he lifted by steam cranes. I saw them also working on clocks. watches, adding machines typwriters and water gauges, and doing the finest of jewelry repairing under the same roof In addi- ton to fixing the old tools of the canal they were making new ones, and were also adding to the strength of the ma chinery Just sent down from the states.
 Inventing New Machinery
 I went through the works with the su- perintendent, Mr. A L. Robinson. who has under him something like 3e00 mech an- cs. He talked with me as to the strength- enng of the machines. Said he:
 Nearly every part of these big tools sent to the isthmus has had to be remade or strengthened. as the most of them are not strong enough to do the heavy work hero. Take, for instance, the spread CTS which smooth out the dumps, each doing the work of hundreds of men. We ordered the strongest but those which came were not sufficiently strong for the work. We then brought down the in- ventors, and they stayed for two months on the isthmus studying the problem and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21

trying to make new machines One of these men designed a spreader, which looked all right upon paper, and we or dered eight. When they came we found that they were still too weak. and we had to bring them into the shops and strengthen most of the parts"
 As result of this kind of work" continued Mir Robinson. We have here on the isthmus machinery which had never been used before we began build ing the canal A great part of the eX- cavation Is rock and the wear and tear is enormous. Take our steel cables which are used on the Lidgerwood cars. The first we had would unload only about 300 trains and then break. We then got the manufacturers at work to developing bet ter ones, and we have now a wire cable that will unload 1890 trains, or six times as many as used at thr start. This last cable is expensive It costs us 44 cents q foot, but it does the work
 Repairing Lidgerwood Cars
 We were walking through the car re- pairing shop when the aoove conversa- tion occurred and MT. Robinson stopped me to show me ono of The new Lidger- wood cars. Those now used are crea- tion of Panama The first sent down to the isthmus were like the common flat cars, and the heavy work here quickly reduced them to matchWood. Those now employed are mighty trucks with beds of plank so thick that they might almost form the logs for a cabin. The trucks are nine feet wide and 40 feet long, with a heavy plank wall as nigh as your waist running along one side of them The wall is backed by supports of hardwood and iron, and it is against it that the blows work when dragged by the cable to throw off the loads Each car will hold 10 tons, and some or the rocks which drop down upon them from the steam shoyels weigh eight Or ten tons each
 Others are so heovy that it is impossi- ble to move them after they are on the car, and they are broken off there with charges of dynamite. If takes heavy material and good workmanship to with stand such traffic, and the ears must be strong throughout As I looked I saw some men laying floor upon one of them. They used six penny spikes and drove them into the wood with sledge.
 A little farther on they~were repairing the steel cars which arc dumped by com pressed air These have air tanks be- heath them, which are connected with the compressor or the locomotive. The en- gfneer touches button and the great masses of earth and rock roll out on the ground. The doors of the steel cars arc another improvement made down here at Panama The wear and tear is so great that they have to be reinforced with 70-pound steel rails. The cars are
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21
MONOGRAPHS
Vienna Indorses the Idea, While Lon
 don Teens With Directors
From, the Nation.

From the Nation.
 London harbors seventeen hundred professional vocalists and no fewer than 63S of these are sopranos Of professors of the voice. piano. violin. etc, there are more than 6,730 Of solo violinlsts there are a round thousand but strangest of all is the fact that there are no fewer than four hundred musical directors The choral societies of London and out skirts number seventy three. The Austrian government has official Iy approved of the value of mechanical sound producing machines for educa- tional purposes.
 An association in Vienna has contrib uted funds for the publication of "Neue Gesangsschule init praktschen, Iiei-spielen auf dem Grammophon,' by Prof Eugen Fischer and a musical pub
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21
Miss Grace Mcintosh First Assistant in Central Library


 | plan for live, active. absolutely free l library.
 The Board of Education. under whose control the library is operated agreed tc | ienaif the old membership fee and to have the books properly classified and cata- logued according to modern library stand ards. This done, on October l, 1909 fol the first time in the history of Birming ham. there was thrown open library for all classes and conditions of residents, for all ages and sizes.
 Over 1J people res sistered for member ship during the first month. as many mors the second. until by the end of the year 5000 cards were In use at the library. From various outside interested agen- oies and individuals books began to be do- mated and gifts of noi,ey to the amount of s40e0 came through the work of the Library Association
 The book collection grew rapidly for the first year. and the daily circulation of books for home reading increased from an average of 16 per day under the old fee system to over 375 per day.
 On January ]. 1911. the Woodlawn libra ry came in under the Board of Education as a branch of the Birmingham Public Library.
 This little library. occupying three rooms of the Woodlawn City Hall had formerly been under the direction or the woman $ Club. and was given by the city s25 per month for maintenance. This amount Is still drawn and dsbursed by the treasur- CT of the Woman's Club of Woodlawn. who uses the fund solely for books. The salary of the librarian is paid by the Board of Education. The books now on the shelves Of the woodlawn branch mum Der 1886, though it's connection with the Central Library entitle it to draw on the main institution for any book whatsoever that may be desired by a borrower.
 In April 1911, the Carnegie Library of Ensley. with almost 5000 we'll selected books, was taken over by the Board oi Education as second branch. Likewise the new Carnegie building in West End was opened for the first time on April
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21

But let us take the train and ride down to Empire. We can get there in twenty minutes and sec the shop where the steam shovels and their parts are made. new. We shall first enter the quarter masters warehouse There are eighteen of these on the isthmus. and each cov- CTS acres The one here al Empire Is right near the shops, and it is well worth a visit 1t is divided up like depart ment store. being walled with shelves. and cut up by aisles. IL has hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of ma terials. embracing twenty thousand diff ferent items ranging all the way from a nut the size of your little hnger to a completed. 95-ton steam shovel as tall as a hay stack.
 The yards outside of 1t are full of car wheels and of steam shovels being re- paired. I stand beside one of the great shovel buckets 10 show you it's height. It will hold five tons of rock. Nearby, are rolls of wire cable and heavy machinery, barrels of insulators for electrical use, and great piles of poles used for tamp- ing the dynamite. The steam shovels now on hand are worth somethins like si00,- eco. and their repair parts are as deli- oately made as the piVots and wheels of watch They must he exact to prevent the great machine from destroying themselves
 Mending Steam Shovels
 We have now on the isthmus more than one hundred shoVels and from ten to twelve are sent in for repairs every month. They are mighty machines which will take up from five to ten tons of earth and rock at a bite. and each represents the work of 500 men. Ten steam shovels , are equal to 5o0O men, and you can there fore see how necessary 1t Is that the re- pairs be made upon time. Each shovel cost many thousands of dollars, and the destruction of one means a great loss Some have been ruined by being caught l in the slides, but nevertheless have been taken out and repaired. This was so with shovel No. 223 which weighed ninety-fve | tons. It was a complete wfeck when it was pulled out of the slide at Cucnracha, and the trucks were not recovered until weeks after the main part of the machine had been brought to the shops. Never theless all the parts were brought finally together and the whole was overhauled and rebuilt and again put together.
 Among the interesting features of Elm
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21

classics and standard works. until. when in 19o9 the Birmingham Library Associn- ton began it's work for the establishment of creditable library for the city, it be- came a matter of surprise to find how much of the worlds best literature was already collected as a nucleus.
 The library association. recognizing the necessity for active field work. engaged for year and half Miss Nimmo Greene of Montgomery, who gave her time to in- teresting the business men. the teachers, the club women, the brotherhoods. the churches and the public generally in the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21

lfcaton speaks highly of the value of the new method.
 It consists in providing records to produce exercises and songs as sung by prominent artists The pupil first lis- tens to these attentiyely, then sings with them and finally tries to sing with the same tone color and phrasing as tho original
 number of teachers have attained gratifying results hy this method
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21
Quite Unique

From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
 Ray T. Baker, warden Of the Nevada penitentiary, Is abolishng with wonder full success all the brutalizing rules of the old time prison system,
 Our lnstitution.' Mr Baker said to reporter isn't much like reformatory 1 once visited in my youth"
 "'A very strange thing happened in this reformatory back in 80. q warden said to me-
 "Yes2 And what was that2" I asked.
 One of our prisoners, he replied, res formed