davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-28

the canal zone and also at raboga. Naos and Porto Bello outside of it. There are great eating houses surrounded by ver- andas and so inciosed in woven wire netting that there is never fly in the butter and the. bald headed man can eat without skull cap. These eating rooms are equipped with dining taoles like those of a hotel. They give you fresh table cloths and white napkins. and the china and glassware are first class They have excellent walters, and the service is better than that of the average hotel Of the states.
 Here are some of the menus. I have taken them at random out Of the mass which is sent in from day to day show ing just what the men have to eat. The ones selected give a single days meal at tho hotel at Gorgona the station on the canal where the repair shops are located. They are as follows:
 BREAKFAST. Oranges. Toasted Corn Flakes. Hominy. Eggs to Order, Fried Bacon. French
 Fried Potatoes, Corn Muffbls,
 Hot Cakes, Maple Syrup.
 Tea. Coffee or Coca.
 LUNCHEON. Puree of Vegetable Soup, Bee1 la Mode, Fried Liver and Onions. Mashed Po-
 tatoes, Spinach and Eggs, Navy
 Beans in Cream
 Cocoanut Pie. Ice Cream and Cake,
 Tea, Coffee or Cocoa.
 DINNER.
 Beef Broth, Beefstealx, French Fried Po- tatoes. Green onions. Mashed Tur-
 nips, Buttered Beets. Lettuce
 Salad
 Apricot Pie. Ice Cream end Cake,
 Tea, Coffee or Cocoa.
 Those meals cost 30 cents each. l could give you all the meus supplied to IS other hotels the same day, but 1t would take too much space. Some are a little better than the above and some perhaps. not good, depending on the choice of the cook as to dishes. But the meals are all excellent, and none costs over 30 cents to the consumer. Every cook has to figure out his meals so that the average cost will not be more than 2S or 29 cents, and if he spends more on one meal he must cut down on the next. Nevertheless, the government finds that this sum is quite sufficient to enable the cooks to give the very best food and that In large portions. Indeed, the average cost of the meals is now under % cents Here Is the actual cost of the items figured out on such meals. The decimals run out to the hundredths of a cent Here is how the 90 cents is di- vided:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-28
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with the aid of powerful magnifying glass. She can tell to the most minute fraction the weight of q stone, and she knows values as few persons do Not only that, but she Is able to match q pair 'of stones perfectly as to tone of color Her eye is so accurately trained to the tints of sapphires that pair matched by her would not vary in per- lection of tone so much as the hundredth part of shade.
 It Is a satisfaction to Miss Walker that she is handling an American product. The sapphire mines of Montana are com paratively new. Then discovery came as many discoveries do-by chance It was in 1895 that the first sapphres of Montana came to light. Some gold min CTS had been working the gold bearing gravels In the district east of the Yogo fork of the Judith river. :n Fergus coun- ty. The miners spent lot of money building ditch to carry water to the locality in which they were operating. and they were disgusted to find that the gravels would not yield sufficient gold to repay them for their expenditures and their labor. Their sluice boxes contained many blue stones. which they threw away in contempt A year or two later some one with better knowledge of mineral ogy identified these blue stones as sap material in which they find the sapphires were plentiful in the Assures in the lime store. Now the field is worked regularly from April to November. During the winter months operations have to cease owIny to cold weather and the snow. An average of 20 men work in the mines. The material in whic hthey find the sapphires 'a''es greatly in Appearance and char acter, from the hard trap rock down through various gradat.ons to the soft
 ls'- nto which the rock finally decom- poses.
 lnere is clay in this Yogo field that resembles the blue soil in which dia- monds are found in Kimberley, but there ;s no sign of diamonds in that Montana land. The method in which tine Yogo miners secure the sapphires is the same as is employed in placer gold mining. A jet of water Is directed against the soil which is cut and dissolved into loose mud. Then the stuff is washed through long series of wooden boxes. Along the bottom of these boxes are rifles. and be- tween these rifles the sapphires remain away. Where the sapyhires are found in the harder rock there is a little more diff fcuty in the mining. but not much
 All the product of the mine is sent to Miss Walker for examination. Jpon her knowledge of values. trade needs and se.lr.ai conditions depends the handling
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-28
h0yZ4M4 e5aBeMzRE. Hu,uY0- 4 1HN lwZ

\ the days when New York was
 young a pretty stream meandered
 from near Broadway down to what is now Buring Slip and emptied it's pure waters into the East river. eBy the side of the stream was q tree-shadowed path. to which on summer evenings the lads and lassies were wont to go Many a romance of old New York had it's begin ring there The old road was the lane of inc lovers, and when it came time to name the streets of New York the old road be- came Maiden Lane.
 Today the tree e-shadowed path and It's romances are memories only. A canyon of stone and mortar replaces the pretty little road The stream and it's waters are of the past The Maiden Lane of to- day houses In it's great office structures many times more people than made up the population of the New York of old. Today Maiden Lane fs street of dia- nonds. of pearls, of rubies, of sapphires, of emeralds, of amethysts. of gold It holds within its vaults hundreds of mill lions of dollars in precious stones. It is known the world over, for to it's mer- chants go the loots of empires, the gems that are dug from the earth to bedeck the beauty of women and satisfy the van ity of man.
 Men go about in Maiden Lane laden with treasure. They are the buyers and sellers of precious gems. Some of them -aacialize in diamonds, some in rubies, some in sapphires. some in the less precious stones You will find lapidaries of@wonderful skill and men of taste and judgment and of the most exquisite re- hnement. But remarkable as is sthe knowledge of these men, it is said the per son who knows most about the precious stone business in America does not wear trousers.
 Way up on the 10th floor of No. Ia Maiden Lane is the eyiie perch of the Sapphire Lady of Maiden Lane Her name Is Adeline NJ. Walker. What she does not know about diamonds pearls. rubies. sapphires, emeralds and such is not worm knowing She came to Maiden Lane years ago. It was not because of love of iew- els Out in Elizabeth, N J.. where she lives, she was educated with the design of becoming a public school teacher. Something happened to interfere with her ambition, and she had to turn her thought to another line of activities She had been out of school about a year when an acquaintance of her brother-in-law re- marked one day that one of his friends dealer in precious stones in Maiden Lane. was desirous of getting trust worthy young won1en to work in his of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-28
Spices in Medicine

From the Memphis News -Seimitar
 Spices are an interesting group of substances; they arc the foundation of a considerable industry. have their medical uses and finally are of special importance In diatetics
 Their value resides in their richness in aromatic substances and essential oils Strictly speaking. they are not foods but often enough they are essen tlal clements in the diet
 Spices have been the subject of clas- sic research. as for example. in the clever and important investigation which Pawlow undertook as to the psychic influence of food and as to the value and zest of nutrition.
 Spices are shown to arouse appetite and to promote the secretion of the gastric juice. and the role they play. therefore in dietetics Is an important one. The medicinal action of some oc them Is further of value.
 Allspice, for example. Is used as an aromatic. and has been successfully ao- ministered for natuleney or for ovsr- coming griping due to purgatives, and occasionally 1t is reported that the oil gives relief for rheumatism and neu- ralgia.
 Medical uses of cinnamon are well known. Cardamoms are used in the form of tincture as aromatic and stomachic, and they are also employed as a havorin1 agent in curry powder, cakes and liquors.
 The application of capsicum and tho peppers generally are well known.
 Clovers are aromatic. carminative and stimulant. and have been used in dyspep- sia, gastric irritation and in cases of vomiting In pregnancy.
 Oil of cloves is also popular remedy for toothache lt has also it's uses in ni- croseopy as preservative and for clear ing sections.
 The uses of nutmeg are wide. vanilla has an enormous application as fiavor- ing agent while turfre eric enjoys sin- liar patronage on account of It's bright elIow coolr and pleasant, musky flavor.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-28
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whose mines are in Great Falls, Mont. Now she takes the entire output of these mines. selects and classifies it. sends it abroad to have 1t cut and polished. and then brings 1t back fin Its finished state and sells it 10 the manufacturing jewell CTS of America.
 There is great sapphire syndicate abroad. It handles the sapphres of Siam. of Burma of Ceylon, of Kashmir and of Australia It did not like the competition of this American woman. There were American sapphire dealers, too, who re- scented her intrusion. They created many difficulties for her, but the Sapphire Lady of Maiden Lane went on her way un- daunted. No one knows sapphires better no one has shown a keener business abiI- ity and steadily. year after year, she has climbed the ladder of success
 There probably Is no branch Of trade in which accuracy and fine judgment play so great a part as in precious stones. To such a great extent do different speci- mems of the same kind of gems vary in color that the slightest difference in shade often means the distinction between stone of great value and one of common quality.
 Every kind of precious stone is most highly valued by connoisseurs when oc- curing in its most rarely seen color. The perfection color of the ruby Is known az the ''rieeon. blood" of the sapphire 'corn flower or the royal blue" The finest emeralds are velvety green: the rarest diamonds are the blue-white. But the color. important as it may be. is only one detail There is a great art in the cutting and the polishing of the gem. The cut ting is matter of very great delicacy. and then in the polishing the most extra ordinary care is required. It Is necessary not only to brighten and polish the facets without enlarging them. but the angles between the facets must be retained ex- actly as arranged by the cutter. All kinds of unforeseen difficulties are apt to, occur. A tiny flaw in the stone may widen or an edge or angle may chip, or vein in the stone may prove trouble some. The craftsman of the greatest ability is he who can overcome with nicety of touch and extreme patience each and all imSerfections.
 Then there is the commercial side to be considered. The market value of all precious stones fuctuates. just as does the value of cotton. of wheat. of corn or of securities on the stock market The discovery of new mines may upset the market. but more often the vagaries of leader of Europe or America, if queen
 v'ife of President should be par- tial to one particular precious stone and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-28
HOW UNCLE SAM KEEPS HO

cents day. or IS 1-s cents per meal. For this they have a dish Of soup. a plate of roast beef or other meat. and a half loaf of bread A common dish is a stew of rice with meat or macaroni as base. remember dinner had yesterday with a lot of Spaniards. I was given a quart of soup which alone was enough for a meal. and in addition was served with a great chunk Of roast Chicago, beef and potatoes I had also a half pound of bread and a full tumbler or wine, the lat ter equal to that you pay a dollar a quart for at any hotel
 The Ration Which Digs the Canal
 have talked with colonel Wilson about the ration of Che silver laborers 1t Is pound of beef a pound of potatoes, one sixth of a pound of flour one-half a pound of rice and .four-tenths of a pound of sugar The food s varied from day to day The staple diet of the West Indian at home Is codfish, rice and sugar. During the past year uncie Sam has sold 1.s0o9eO pounds of eodfish. almost ali of which has been bought by the West India negroes. At the same time we are teaching them to eat heef and when the government finds man who does not seem strong enough for his work he is asked as to his food If he is not living at government kitchen he Is given tickets and told that he must do so. Within a short time he begins 10 fatten, and his work comes up to standard
 The West Indians and aiso the Span- iards and Indians eat but little for break fast, but they make their main meals at noon and night. The actual cost of the kitchen meals is a little over a2 cents q day or a little more than cents meal. Uncle Sam gets 9 cents. but he has to pay for the service.
 As to the bread furnished this is made in the government bakery, and 1t Is better than any you can buy almost anywhere in the United States The flour and all the ingredients are chemically analysed and a full pound of bread is put to the loaf The flour used is a blend of Kansas hard wheat flour and Dakota hard wheat flour The loaves sell for 1 cents each. and they contain as much bread as one i gets for cents in the states. The Span | iards eat about 30 per cent more bread than the negroes, and the average con | sumption of bread in the .hoiels Is two thirds Of q pound per person d day II is found that the native American eats more meat than either the European or the West Indian the latter, to great extent making starch and sugar take the place Of meat.
 l All of the supplies for the hotels ant
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-28

kitchens are bought in quantities, and handled through the commissary. The government here has the biggest and most complete cold storage plant of the world, and it sends out train of twen- ty-one ears every morning to carry provisions to these hotels. and to the various families which live in private houses throughout the canal zone. It is estimated that more than one nun dred thousand people are regularly supplied by the department
 At present the government Is opera ting these 9 line hotels, l6 or the 4O- cent-a-day messes, and II of the Ia borers' supply kitchens. The total number of meals served last year at the hotels was 2,216,000 and the total number of rations given out in the Flu ropean lahorers' messes was more than a million, while the rations served Tn the kitchens was less than half million.
 The number of meals served to the silver men is steadily growing less, and this is especially so as to the segroes. They are building shaeks out in the jungle and you see their little one-sto- " huts scattered over the hills and valleys of the canal zone.a They do not like to live in the dormltories, and they prefer to have their own females, as they call their women. with them and to do the cooking themselves. Such cooking Is all done over charcoal, and the ordinary kitchen Is the porch, the stove consisting of bowl of charcoal inside a galvanized screen about two feet cube. or of the size and shape or shoe box.
 The total revenue of the government hotels. messes and kitchens amounted last year to Just about s1, 1,250.000, which was almost s10o,000 less than the year previous; and in keeping the establish ment 1t was found that there was a loss on the hotels and restaurants pat ronized by the gold men. but that the profit on the silver men made Uncle sam come out something like s2O,0O0 ahead.
 At the Hotel TivOli
 Outside this class of hotels and res taurants devoted to the actual feeding of the canal employees, Uncle Sam has a great establishment here where tour ists and high class officials are enter tained and where the richer of the ca nal employees may live if they care to pay the bills This is the Hotel Trivol situated on the slope of the Ancon hill about $50 feet above. the level of the sea, with a fine outlook upon the city of Panama and the Pacific ocean. The hotel is great three-story building. part frame and part brick. Il
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-28


 flee. Miss Walker applied for the job and | got it. The Maiden Lane concern did ! business under the styre of E. E. Kipling and was made up of two sons of the ia nous Richard Kipling, who was the pio- neer importer of precious stones and the largest dealer in that trade in all New 1 York.
 | The girl began as a bookkeeper and general helper. She was bright. clever and energetic. The business fascinated her. She made herself so useful that be- | fore she had been with the firm year she practically was manager. and had power of attorney to sign cheeks, make contracts and act almost a member oi I the firm. There was plenty of office wor, to engage her attention. but she was not content to do that alone. She wanted to study She ransacked public and private libraries and read everything she could get her hand on that would enighten her regarding precious storfes. She had d I fine mind and excellent judgment Her employers got to rely more and more upon her. Any time question arose about the history of a certain stone or the value of a jewel she was consulted i In time she found that she was getting to be looked upon as an authority. She made few mistakes. and her reputation grew until not only people in the retail district but manufacturers, came to her | for advice when they were in doubt One of the Kiplng brothers died and the other one continued the business for ] few years Then a third Kipling broth- CT entered business and she went with | him. The rhinestone craze struck the world just about this time, and she was sent abroad by Kipling as a buyer. For ] five months she was in Europe. She bought hundreds of thousands of crosses of rhinestones and sent them to America to be mounted in gold in imitation of dia- monds, or to be set In silver for the adornnent of woman. Then sine returned to New York. She continued with Kip | ling until he retired Next she was asso- ciated with H. l. Benedict and for r years was manager and fnancier of his establishment
 l Four years ago she started out for her l self. and today she is the only woman I in the business in New York.
 | There was something of sensation l when it was announced that Miss Walker | had entered the lists It was incompre- hensble to some persons that a woman should be in such business. It was all right for her to be an employe, but as q merchant. q dealer, handler of precious stones on her own account-that was diff l ferent- She had gone in for sapphires aiore, and had been appointed the agent of the Togo American Sapphire company,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-28

Copyright, 19l2 by Frank C. Carpenter)
 Hotel Tivolia.
 Aneon. Canal Zone, Panama. HURING the past week I have in
 vestigated Uncle sam's hotels A> down here on the Isthmus of Panama He is feeding multitude of men every day. and the meals served in his hotels, restaurants and kitchens are now about 6Oo,OOo per month The cost of his .conlmissary runs into the millions year, but he buys ana sells so closely that he annually comes out a little ahead. It IS not ohcie Sam's idea to make money out or the stomachs of his hard-worlSing children. His chief aim is to give the employees good food at just about cost lie ooes this. furnishing the best board that can be gotten anywhere else in the "oiiu ioi the money.
 In making this statement I know whereof sneak and that by the test of both stomach and brain. have gone through the commissasy account books with Col Eugene T. Wilson, the chief subsistence officer. and have figured the cost of and receipts from the meals item. bv item Moreover, l have been living for a month at the Tivoli Hotel, where the board costs s5 a day, and have dined again and again at the hotels along the line of the canal where full dinner Is served for 30 cents, and that the equal of many you buy in New York for g. I have also taken my tin plate and for cents have had a square feed at the la borers kitchens, and later on have eaten with the European silver men, where the meals are 13 cents, with all the extras thrown in
 Indeed, since I came to Panama l have lost all my sympathy with the woes of the American landlord. His prices are such that he ought to be rolling in wealth, and if he is not making money, he does not know how to run his hotel I am also losing some of my pity for the whining American housekeeper in these days of so-called high prices, and I be- lieve that any woman in the United States, if she figures as closely as does Uncle Sam. could not only put more flesh on the bones of her chiidl en, but lay away much spare change in her stocking or in the family slot savings tanlS on the mante
 What Uncle Sam Gives for 30 Cents One can keep alive and do good work on the cent meal or the 13 cent meal. but the 30 cent meal which the govern ment gives is fit for king. It is served three times day at the tine hotels sit uated at the principal settlements along
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-28


 create sensation by its use or display on a state occasion there probably would be a great demand for stones of that character throughout tile world, A gem which is highly appreciated at one time is scarcely thought of at another.
 Few persons who wear precious stones know how many of them belong to one 1uIne ra logical family. The diamond is of one family. and is known as a diamond. whether it's color be red, yellow, green. blue, black or white. But the gems of the crystallized alumina family receive different names for each variation of color. The red is called ruby. the blue we know as sapphire, the yellow we call Oriental topaz, the green is denominated as Oriental emerald, and the purple is the Oriental amethyst In the sapphire alone there is as much variation as there is in the character of the different branches of the crystallized alumina. The uneducated eye can see no difference between the sap phire of Kashmir and that of Montana, or between the sapphire of Ceylon and that of Australia. But to Miss Walker there is as much difference as there Is between night and day. It seems almost uucanny. but from lot of gems placed on one tray she can distinguish the stone that came from India. from Australia from North Carolina or from Montana. and she can tell whether it is the product of the field at Korat the sands of Bat tombong the mine at Pailin or from the grand banks of the Judith river near the headwaters Of the Missouri. in Montana
 She can sec shades of, coloring and characters in stones a. glance that the ordinary observer cannot distinguish even