davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
strong Iron Market

The local iron market is very strong. Some ironmakers have been turning down offers of S12.5O on a No. ? basis. It is believed by many men connected with the business that No foundry, Birmingham. will be selling at SIS for prompt delivery before the end of the year.
 Rogers, Brown & Co.'S Cincinnati report, just received, says:
 ''rhe week has been marked by eontin- ued activity in all districts, excellent buy ing and earnest inquiries for large ton mage. There is lively inquiry for pig iron, and large portion of it is for this years delivery. although there is an ever increasing amount being figured for 1913
 "1t is interesting to note in connection with recent buying that actual. purchases have in most cases doubled or trebled the first inquiry as presented. and the conf dence expressed by buyers in their busi- ness in hand or in view for the immedi- ate future is of the most encouraging na- ture.
 AS direct result of the demands which have been made both on furnace stocks and order books for the future. prices have advanced and furnaces are in an in dependent position for this years business at least.
 Furnace stocks on August show large shrinkage, and this. coupled with a reduc- ton in July production from the two months previous (although July carried an extra day) is of considerable moment. Pig iron production during July was the smallest daily average since February. Better conditions in pig iron are indicated in all grades, the charcoal lines follow
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
A Democratic Year

Some time before the presidential con ventions there was a feeling in the east that this was a democratic year." said Nicholas L. Potter of New York, and since all the nominations have been made it looks as if the democrats would have sweeping victory.
 q em one of the multiture that votes, but do not take any active part in poli- tics. I have always voted the democratic ticket, but this is the first time since my first presidential vote which was in 1892, that l have felt as if we were going to win.
 Before the Baltimore convention had selected the ticket I was inclined to think that Congressman Underwood of Alabama would be the best man for standard bearer, but since Wilson was chosen am strongly for him. I think we have splendid ticket.
 q have many friends who are actively engaged in political work, and it is their opinion that the state of New York will go for Wilson and Marshall"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
Gov. odelI Takes the Stand

Ex-Governor Odell of New York took the stand in Washington to ex- plain the Roosevelt Hartman fund of 1904, raised but two or three days before the election of that year. The national committee had promised to pav over to the New York state com mittee S5O0,000. It did hand out $500, 900, and then it notified the New York committee that it could not de- liver the remaining $2o0,0Oo, and the state committee had promised to turn over the sum to county chairmen along the Hudson river and on Long Island.
 Here is where Hartman comes into the case. He raised $240,000 and the deficiency was satisfied. The money was spent in New York, and Harri- man said before he died that it changed 50,000 votes in the slums of the Eastside districts.
 Colonel Roosevelt can assert that he had nothing to do with the Harri- man fund, but the evidence of Odel and Hartman refute his statements and Governor Odell tells why the money was raised and where it was spent. Colonel Roosevelt cannot shake off his part in the Hartman contri. button to the funds of 1904.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
THE BEGGARs OF TOLEDO

W. D. HoweIls in Harper's Magazine.
 AS soon as we got outside, the beggars of Toledo swarmed upon us; but l nope it was not wholly from them formed the notion that the beauty of the place was architectural and not personal though these poor things were as deplorably plain as they were obviously miserable. The inhabitants who did not ask aims were of course in the majority, but neither were these impressive In looks or bear ing.
 Rather, should say, their average was small and dark and in color of eyes ana hair as well as skin suggested therAfriean race that had held Toledo for three cen turies. Neither here nor anywhere else in Spain are there any traces of the Jews who helped bring the Arabs in; once for all that people have been banished so per fectly that they do not show their noses anywhere.
 Possibly they exist, but they do not ex- ist openly, any more than the descend ants of the Moorish invaders practice their Moslem rites. As for the beggars. to whom I return as they constantly re- turned to us, it did not avail to do them charity; that by no means dispersed them' the thronging misery and putilation In the lame, the halt and the blind was as great at our homecoming to our hotel as at our going out of it. The very school children interrupted their sports to chance our charity; and it is still with a pang that I remember the little girl whom we denied a copper when she was really ask ing for fiorecito out of the nosegay that one of us carried. But how could we suppose that it was a little flower and not a ''ltttle dog that she wanted?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
Taxation and Business

q will never be in favor of our company spending another dollar on new develop ment until Alabama has more equitable system of assessing taxable values, said stoclsholder in one of the hourishing in dustrlal concerns of the Birmingham dis trict
 T have made what money possess in coal and iron, but the tax burden of the company in which I have considerable money invested has got to be very heavy, and worse still we are paying more than cur neighbor pays. I wouldn't mind 1t so much If all industries were on the same level.
 T hope the next legislature will give us something in the nature of a remedy. Unless it does industrial business will certainly be seriously retarded in this district"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
THE SOURCES OF IVORY
From the New York Telegram.

From the New York Telegram
 T1ODAY the demand for ivory quite
 exceeds the supply; but modern
 A ingenuity has provided numerous limitations and substitutes; and some of this fictitious ivory Is difficult to distinguish from the real substance.
 The real ivory, being a modification of dentine, shows in transverse see- tions lines of varying shades running in ares and forming minute lozenge shaped spaces These markings, which exist in every portion of any trans verse section, enable the expert to recognize true ivory as distinct from every other kind of tooth substance, and from bone and all fictitious "ivorites"
 Among ivory substitutes vegetable ivory is one of the most curious. and interesting; since 1t is the product of plant and yet resembles ivory more completely than the majority of ami mal substitutes.
 The Phytelephas macrocarpa Is na- tive of South America, and the fruit of this palm like plant is of the size of a mans head and contains numerous nuts rather smaller than hen eggs. The kernels of these, which are commercial ly known as Corozo nuts, furnish the vegetable ivory so extensively used in the manufacture of buttons, umbrella handles and trinkets. Two or three millions of Corozo nuts are now inn ported annually.
 Only a small proportion of the ivory of Ceylon, India, Burmah Cochin China, and the eastern archipelago reaches Europe; the bulk of the ivory of commerce sold in the great markets is African and it is brought from the interior by almost every route com municating with the coast.
 The tusks of many thousands of ele- plants slain annually in Africa never reach the coast; for ivory is greatly
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
School Seats This Fall

Out of 43,650 children of school age fin this city Superintendent Phillips estimates that 25,000 will apply for seats in thepublc schools next month. As the city has seating capacity for but 20,504 it follows that just about 5000, children will be denied admission to the schools. :.
 To deny a single child admission is great wrong not only to the child and it's parents but to the state also. It is an act that promotes illiteracy and ignorance, and the injury done is far reaching.
 There is fearful lack of seats for negro children, but the deficiency is not confined to that race alone. There are but 15,96O seats for 22,433 white children!
 Over 1S,000a children between the ages of 2 and 20 in this city will not apply for seats in the public schools. This is a dreadful fact in itself, but when 5000 applicants are turned away next month the lack of school accom- modations will have become painfully apparent.
 What is to be done? It would be favoritism to accept 10000 pupils and discard 5000. What is to be done?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
PAY DAY AT PANAMA

Mrs. C.. R. Miller in Leslies
 An account of only one of the features of the Panama canal will give some idea of the immensity of the work. Thirty eight thousand men are Employed, and each pay day, once month and covering a space of three days. s1s5OO,OCO is distrib- uted to the workmen The system of pay ing off is simple and orderly and so de- viSed that very little time is lost The dis bursting office is at Empire, and here Ed ward J. Williams, the chief disbursing of- ficer of the canal commission, and his as- sistant. William NJ. Wood. together with a large corps of clerks and accountants, make out the pay roll for this army of workers.
 Various system of payment have been tried, but the one now in use seems to have worked out with the least friction. Every employe is given brass check containing a number, which will identify him as long as he is in the employ of the canal commission. He Is paid by the hour and his foreman keeps his time. This is forwarded to the disbursing office and his pay certificate made out from this record. It is authenticated by the ex- aminer of accounts and the disbursing of- tlcer and then returned to the foreman, who delivers it to the individual whose brass check number corresponds with the number on the certificate. The man is then told the hour and day the pay ear win be in his vicisity. and he is expected to fall in lise and receive his wages.
 Pay day occurs on the 12th, 18th and 14th of each month During the early days Of the work it was customary to issue checks on the United States to employees for such amounts as they required each month, as an accommodation in forwarding money to inc United states. This. however, was abolished when 1t was discovered that some of the men were abusing the privil- ege by securing the checks for the pur- pose of selling them to merchants and others to be used as a New York ex- change, the checks being sent out of the country to be cashed. By One present system the white men are known as gold employees and are paid in American gold coin. and the negroes as "silver em- ployes3'' being paid in Panama silver equal in value to gold. For 8 e men were paid in United Sl 1t was found that the mert on
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
HOW TO TELL BOGUS STONES

From the New York Sun
 MaeIver Percival gives word of warn inf concerning imitation stones. and ad- vises intending buyers not to imagine that they are likely to get many bar gains. They are much more likely to be
 taken in if they buy them on their own
 responsibility unless they have sufficient 1 experience to make them more or less 1 expert.
 This is especially so in the case of trav- l elers in the east, who are often offered by willy orientais "stones,' which they imagine must be cheap because they are obtainable locally. These often turn out
 to be simply colored glass. In Geylon this fraud is often practiced. Sometimes a native has been known to work up quite an elaborate plot to make things seem probable
 Of artificial stones, practically all are soft and can be scratched with file ex- cept some of the scientific. gems; they are, in fact. glass, variously colored. Old glass pastes that have seen much wear are often scratched and dmmed, and
 If they do not show any trace of this even at the angles, an examination wlth magni1er often shows little buppies ard lnes which prove they have been melted: These are quite different from the flaws in real stones, which show the crystalline character of the gem.
 One way of distinguishing them is to hold them to the lips (they must not be warmed by having been worm; the real stones feel cold while the paste feels soft and warm. Doublets are more de- ceitful than paste and harder to detect, especially with colored stones. If pale stone has n rich colored glass case 1t not only makes a large stone out of small one, but improves the color im- mensely. This, however, may be easily detected by applying a test for hardness underneath.
 An even more sophisticated form has been invented which has a thin layer of stone cemented to the base as well. These triplets, as they are called, are very likely 10 betray the unwary Sus- Lected stones should be removed from their settings and soaked in hot water or chloroform. which dissolves the ce- ment and the whole thing falls to pieces.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
Visiting FatherIand

August Hirsch writes from Osthofen, Rheinhessen. under date of August ?, that he was gratified, in picking up the Frank furter Zeitung of August 1, to see front page article about Birmingham. It was very complimentary, he said, and facts about our city were correctly set fortn.s
 "Just imagine me 1000 miles away from home,' writes MT. Hlrsch, reading the most influential German paper and finding in it a true description of the Magic City. I have enjoyed my visit to the fatherland very much; will leave August for Paris l expect to remain there until August 16, and will then return to Bir- mingham, making short stop in New York"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
DoN'rs FOR CITY CHILDREN

From Leslie's.
 Don't hang on behind the car.
 Don't stand on the car steps.
 Don't touch a wire; it may be live one. Don't put your head or arms out of the car windows
 Don't run across a car track in front of an approaching car, automobile or wagon. Don't cross immediately behind a pass ing car; there may be another car or wagon approaching closely in the oppo- site direction.
 Don't jump on or off a moving car. Don't get off facing rear of car.
 Don't cross street without looking both ways for passing automobiles and wagons.
 Don't fail, when leaving car, to look both ways for other vehicles.
 Don't play in the street where car tracks are.
 Don't cross street except at a cross walk.
 Don't take a chance.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
Necator. Americanus

"The American Murderer" is the subject of leading article in the Medical Review of Reviews for Au- gust This parasite deserves all the attention that physicians can give it. It leads to many deaths in the south ern section of this country, and in Porto Rico one-third of the deaths are attributed to it.
 The Review of Reviews says that infections by the hookworm extend to l, all classes of people, but the worst eff fleets occur among those who are not fully nourished and who lack toilet facilities of any kind. The pollution of the soil is an inevitable result. But the disease is widespread, for 66 per cent of the Hindoo coolies arriving in San Francisco are suffering from the infection.
 "The general social effects" says the Review of Reviews, 'of hook worm disease areSto be found in the physical retardation of growth and development of children, with the cor responding backwardness in mentality. Many dullards so-called, are in reality suffering from hookworm disease. It has been estimated that fully 30 per cent of the efficiency of southern ed ucation is wasted owing to the inabil- ity of children infected by this worm to absorb the education provided for them. Many workers, male and fe- male, are incapacitated for industrial life. Their ambition is destroyed, their alertness is blunted, and re- sultant indisposition to work causes them to be stigmatized as lazy. It is
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
RErLEcTToNs OF A BACHELOR

From the New York Press.
 A man who wants to borrow scares most people more than burglar would.
 Politics nowadays doesn't make any more strange bedfellows than 1t does divorces.
 Politeness in man is largely a mat ter of whether the object of it Is more important than he Is.
 man can understand a girl till he marries her, and she can't understand him till she marries him.
 If a man could try to get to heaven the way he can into a public office the devils business wouldn't pay at all.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
MIXING THE NAMES

From an EXcnange.
 Mayor Bacharach of Atlantic City, at a dinner at the Marlborough Blenileim. told of summer girl:
 'On the beach in the moonlight" he said, "a youth clasped maiden passion ately to his breast and murmured:
 Do you love me. darling?'
 Yes-ah. yes, Reginald. she sighed.
 ReginaldT said the youth in a star tied voice. You mean Clarence don't you, dear?'
 Smiling sweetly, she nestled closer. How stupid of me. l was thinking it was the week end.' '
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
NEEDED HELP

From the PoruIdI MdSdzIHe.
 Charles D. IIilles, secretary of the Pres ident. says the funniest advertisement he ever saw was stuos up in frotn of grocery store on side street in Cincin- natl It reads thus:
 Twins are come to me for the third tune. This time a boy and girl l be- scech my friends and patrons to support me stOutlyo
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

ing closely and buying being generously distributed.
 Coke is without change, the movement being uncertain and harnpering consumers and producers accordingly. The spot bus mess is fair. with contracting rather quiet, due largely to the time of year"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES

fortunate. would be looking with stream ing eyes toward the stars, praying for elbow room, and asking that the deeps Of space be spanned with bridges, that stifled billions might escape.-Louisville Cuurier-Journal
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
A NOBLE AMBITION.

When I have quit this world of care,"
 He said, Be this my epitaph: 7" He Tried To Live Upon the Square
 And Never Kept a Monograph
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
A SPLENDID PAST.

Long years ago when youth was his
 And all the way lay fair before, He had a real good job, I wis,
 A-elerkng in dry goods store. His salary was ten plunks a week.
 He should have laid a portion by, But pleasures haunts he fain would seek And spent it all just living high
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
LET'S DON'T LIVE FoREvER

There ought to be some little consola- tion in the reflection that if mon should solve the mastery of life and death, elimi- nate physical pain, drive the dread ogre of disease into its cave and plug up the hole, the tragical result would be such cverpopulation that within little while men and women holding perpetual leases Of life, surrounded by children equally un-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
UNMOYED.

We are not one of those excitable indi- Eiduals who is holding his breath until he sees which way Nicholas Longworth Is going to flop. Nothing Nicholas has ever done has ever made the slightest pause in our respiration.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
SONG

By Christina G. Rossetti When l am dead my dearest,
 Sing no sad songs for me: Plant thou no roses at my head,
 Nor shady cypress tree; Be the green grass above me
 With showers and dew drops wet; And if thou wilt. remember,
 And if thou wilt, forget. shall not see the shadows,
 l shall not feel the rain: shall not hear the nightingale . Sing on. as if in pain;
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

Metchnikon's discovery of a germ to prolong life may enable a few 10 live to see the tariff reduced from outright rob bery of the many to just revenue basis. The germ will, however, have to be strong and healthy that doesn't.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
ANYTHING FOR PUBLICITY.

4 Denver preacher says it is crime to swat a fly Some preachers would break into print if they had to break their necks to do it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

in demand by the chiefs and head men of the interior for the establishment of their dwellings and for the decora- ton of the tombs of their distinguished dead African ivory has superior denl- ty and whiteness, and it is the most highly valued by manufacturers; so that the present enormous slaughter of African elephants promises to bring about ere long, a serious shortage
 Ivory is valued according to the size and soundness of the tusks. There are three grades of teeth-60lb. and up- ward, 40lb. to 60lb., and between 20lb. and 4olb. Whereas a good average price for West African teeth may be said to be $50 to f60, selected speei- mens-for billiard balls, for example may command twice that price.
 The quantity annually imported averages 12,50O cwt.; and to procure this, together with the proportionately small amount used by eastern manufac- turers, some 10000 elephants must be slaughtered.
 The walrus. the hippopotamus, the sperm whale and several other crea- euiNS PcSScS5 lc6liit UT luSkS, or SUP iciently large size and weight to add materially to the worlds supply.
 Among the Romans, writing tables composed of ivory plate. joined as diptychs or triptychs, were used by the wealthy. Such tables were a favorite form of consular present, and must have proved highly acceptable to the fortunate officials who received them.
 Several fine examples of consular worries remain to us. During the Mid dle Ages, of course, ivory came to be employed largely for ecclesiastical pur- poses, as reliquaries, uatuettes of saints and crucifixes; but 1t also was used frivolously for chessmen. mirror handles and kindred purposes for which it serves today.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
WEEP IF YOU WISH.

There are said to be 100000 homeless cats in Chicago. People whose speciality is long distance sorrow. have our per mission to cry their eyes out.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

The damaging error of this administra- tien was made at Winona and confirmed in the vetoes. MT. Taft stands condemned because he did not sternly insist on a real downward revision of the tariff. He must go
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

The standard bearers daughters stand ready to receive the women at Seagirt in this campaign. They are each and all good workers. and their mother stands beside them.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
MERE BIrNcoMRE.

'fMetaphorically speaking. Busby is al- ways batting himself on the back"
 You mean, 'bombastically speaking doS't you?"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

Poetry sometimes pays. James Whit comb Riley recently slipped bridegroom a check for S5OOoo. Such things do oc- eur in Indiana.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

Thus far Eddie Hines has not demand ed from the United States the money that he spent in putting Liromer over, but he may file his claim next winter.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

And now it is claimed the new wireless plant of the German government near New York is violation of the Monroe doctrine
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
WE'RE No MIsoGyNTsT

Now, what's the greatest bore in life?
 some men will say, "A nagging wife, But, thank the Lord all wives are not The kind who make men cross and hot.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

There is no record that the hats will be thrown into the ring when the fighting be- gins at Armageddon. Those who are standing there now should read up.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16
WORRIED.

There was a man in our town Who asked with doleful signs: How will this country manage to Get on when Teddy dies?"
 Chicago Record Herald.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

England is constructing a great wireless system that will bind together nearly all parts of the far-hung British empire.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

The third party is escorting the colonel to his Waterloo, and he will not come back.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

The colonel claims 255 electoral votes He puts in his sure column, and even then he has nothing on young MT. Hilles.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-16

The boys at Rugby no longer wear high hat as a topper. It is said the change is due to Lloyd yd-Georgeism.