davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
Uuderwood the Right Man,

Knowing the uncertainty of politics no one can be sure what the national democratic convention will do, but I be- lieve that oscar Underwood has fine chance of being nominated for the pres idency," said an old democrat.
 There seems to be a feeling through out the country that the democrats will be victorious next November. Not in many years has the party been so united as now, and at no time since the Civil war has it had more splendidly equipped leader than oscar Underwood. He is by far the abfest leader since Tilden.
 National conventions often consider questions of expedieney in selecting a man to head the ticket. Well. when it comes to expediencS, Underwood being a man of consummate tact as well as con- structive statesmanship; is singularly available. I believe that every democrat who keeps himself informed recognizes Underwoods exceptional fitness for the presidency. The Alabamian is a man that we can all honestly praise. and against whose character not single thing can be said"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
Good Road Making This Year

Alabama has been comparatively backward in good road building. While several counties have first class high ways, and Jefferson county is certain ly good deal better off in this re- spect than it was two or three years ago, great deal remains to be done in every county in the state.
 The excessively wet winter and spring will have the effect of stimu- lating interest in good roads. With out hard road bed the farmer can haul no heavy loads during the rainy season, but if all the roads were macadamized they would be as passa- ble at one time of the year as an- other. >Illiteracy and bad roads are the two things that will injure the reputation of any state.
 Nothing would pay better than for the counties of Alabama to expend a total of $50,00O,000 on good road building within the next two years. In the Birmingham district there is no excuse whatever for not having model thoroughfares. The counties have the financial ability, and no bet ter building material can be found anywhere than in this furnace town.
 Two or three of the New England states were in a decadent condition when good road building began to be pushed. Now the whole of New Eng land is covered by network of splendid roads-roads finer than the best streets in most cities; and New England is growing very rich again off of the tourist money that these good roads bring to that section.
 Fifty million dollars spent in Ala bama would immediately enhance land values. Every dollar spent for good roads makes the farm land nearby worth fpom 50 to 100 per cent more than it was before.
 Let us make 1912-13 conspicuous as good road years.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
UNDERWOOD FOR PRESIDENT

From the, Columbus, Miss, Commercial.
 The candidacy of Congressman Oscar w. Underwood of Alabama is being vigor- ously pushed, and his chances for secur- ing the democratic presidential nomina- ton. He seems to be popular throughout day. As has been previously stated in these columns, the Commercial Las thought all along that it would be impos- sible for southerner to secure the nom- inaticn, but the people throughout the country seem to be rallying 10 the sup port of the Alabamian, and he may be the man selected.
 MT. Underwood has shown in his leadec- ship of the majority of the House of Rep resentatives that he is not only an ex- perienced pariamentarian, but man of rare sense and fine judgment and knows how to handle satisfactorily the most delicate situation that man in his position Is so often compelled to confront, He has fine record and it begins to look like this record is going to stand him in good stead in the race for, the nomlna- tion. He seems to be poular throughout the entire country and if nominated will undoubtedly make a good strong race.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
HON. OSCAR UNDERWOOD

From the Montgomery Journal.
 The state convention Wednesday gave to it's favorite son, Hon. Oscar UndAr- wood, strong and emphatic indorsement for President. It was an indorsement of which he has just cause to be proud and of which his friends have cause to be proud. With two factions of the party in the convention, he had the hearty support and indorsement of both, and the dele gates selected to go to Baltimore pledged to him first, last and all the time-even to the end of the convention, till after a nomination has been made, unless he chooses to release them from their pledge of support to him. That he has this pow CT. even in the face of such strong and specific instructions. goes without saying; but will that time ever come in the con- vention when he shall feel that he has not a chance to be nominated and that in the interest of harmony in the democratic party, he should retire from the contest and join forces with another party, in its assembled wisdom, may think more available? The friends of MT. Underwood in Alabama feel that he has not only a heEeiio eHoANef 1tN / oSoN~ Ni-stA~S " capture the nomination, and good chance also of being elected President no matter who the republicans may nominate.
 Mir Underwood is a strong man. a man of conviction and courage. and is the first southern man since the civil war to receive such recognition at the hands of a southern state-being thought fit and available for the presidency of these United States, to be chief executive of so. 000,00o people.
 It was high tribute to MT. Underwood, even though he should not achieve his ambition and at once make him a national figure, a southerner to be reckoned with. We are proud of Oscar Underwood. Ala bama is proud of Oscar Underwood. Many if not all the southern states, we doubt not. will do him honor at the Baltimore convention by giving him their loyal sup port when the time arrives and his nom
 nation is made possible by the enthus- iasm and loyalty of the Alabama delega- fiOl,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23

From Seribner's Magazine.
 The United States is passing rapidly from an agricultural country to an in dustrial one, and this transition is ac- oompanied by a large increase in power consumption and an enormous drain on the fuel resources of the country. In 190o the coal mined in the United States was approximately e7O,0O0000 tons. In 1910 this was over 500,00o,000 tons, an increase of S5 per cent, being accompanied by an increase in population of approximately 2 per cent. This doubling in the output of coal over a decade has been the rate of growth for some time, and, if continued, the extinction of our known coal depos- it's will be a question of comparatively few years. The cost of mining coal is increasing every year and will probably continue to do so, even with the improve ments in methods.
 Due to the improvements in generating machinery. the efficiency of utilizing the coal for power purposes is constantly being increased. but a natural limit is being approached It is evident, without
 further argument. that the interests of the people uelildIlu Idplu ueNSloPiiiSiie of all the water powers which will in any way tend to decrease the coal con sumption.
 It has been estimated by the Geological Survey that the available water power of the United States at minimum flow Is approximately 3e,0oo,OOo horsepower. and that this can be increased five or six times by suitable storage facilities A
 recent report by Commissioner Herbert
 Knox Smith states that 6,000000 horse power has been developed in the United States for electrical and other industrial purposes. Before the perfection of electrical ap-
 paratus and the possibilities of power transmission, 1t was necessary to utilize the water power at the point of develop ment, and this reached its greatest appli- cation in the mills of New England. The possibility of developing the water power
 at the point where 1t exists. but of utiliz- ing the power at the places of greatest convenience, has been brought about by
 the use of electricity. and this has been an
 important feature in modern industrial
 undertakings.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
SOUTHERN CANDIDATE
n the Boston Transcript.

From the Boston Transcript
 Congressman Underwood gets whatever advantage there is in winning the entire delegation for the democratic convention from Alabama. It is reported that there is a growing Underwood sentiment in other sections. The presentation of his name at the Baltimore conyention will in manner test how far the democratic party has got away from the civil war era MT. Underwood is man of ability and excellent character, but he comes from the south, and no southerner has been elected President of the United States for mere than Go years. Andrew Johnson, another sputherner, became President not by election, but by thu death of Abraham Lincoln. It is an open secret that there are many northern dem ocrats who think that the time has not come when it is expedient for their party to nominate southerner or even to all low southcrner to ohtain very strong support in a national convention. If the estimate of public sentiment of these eemocrats is correct. then it is singu-
 arly Unfortunate state of affairs which draws the line by sections and not on a candidates qualifications.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
Fasten your ear to my ndvisings.
 Measure for Measure.
Direct Election of Senators

The democracy of Alabama, speak ing in their last convention, declared themselves unreservedly in favor of the direct election of senators. Keep ing this command in view there should be no unnecessary higgling by the states representatives in Congress over the question. Whatever will give the people chance to elect directly their senators should be adopted.
 The Bristow amendment provides that the federal government may supervise and control the election of United States senators. Never before the war and never since except in re- construction times has the federal government done anything of that na- ture, and probably it never would, but the amendment is utilized by those who are at heart opposed to the direct election of senators, and the two houses of Congress cannot agree on compromise. The Bristow amendment is itself harmless, and any democrat or any republican who really desires the direct election of senators will pay small attention to it. Alabama has stated in distinct terms what she wants.
 The people will be heard from if Congress adjourns without finding a compromise that can be submitted to the people as a constitutional amend nent The reform is popular in all progressive states. A few machine state only cling to the legislative rlan.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
The City Beautiful

Birmingham has many beautiful streets, and most of the strets and ave- nues in the business section are well paved and are kept fairly clean" said club man. Most of the streets are well shaded, too, and in turning ones head in any direction during the spring and summer when foliage is thick, one beholds a cool and pleasant vista; but tho beauty of Brminghams s downtown streets would be considerably enhanced if sward were allowed to grow in the spaces between sidewalk and gutter. Res idents SOW seed or put down sod, but pedestrians trample the grass and kill it If We could only educate the ris- ing generation to regard the rights of their nelghbors when it comes to this little matter of sidewalk ornamentation, we would have a model city"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23

ABOUT THAT MOON. Once when the full moon glistened, AS full moons often do, leaned against a lamp post And could swear that I saw two
 Springfield Union. Once when the new moon glistened, Like silver, through the trees, To Electors growls we listened And sighed, He's full of fleas.'
 Birmingham Age-Herald. Once as the new moon glistened A wild wish stirred my heart; wished that l had tarried Upon the water cart.
 -Johnstown Democrat. Once as the new moon glistened From out behind a cloud They, of course, saw us kiss her, You should have heard the crowd.
 -Wilkesbarre Times-Leaden Once when the full moon glistened Upon summer night, For hours I sat in a rowboat, And the blamed fish wouldn't bite,
 Scranton Tribune-Republican. Once as the new moon glistened tried to insert the key, But the keyhole described a circle And would not stand still for me.
 Allentown Democrat. Once when the full moon glistened With a grin and not a yawn She was looking in a window; No curtains had been drawn.
 -Chattanooga Times.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
WHEN CARPATIIIA HEARD

and not a soul knew where they came from. No one saw them get into the beats. but there they were wherever they came from.
 "The fellows from the crew of the Ti- tanic told us that lots more of thsn. could have got away. only no one would be- lieve that their ship could sink ,Why. one waiter who was saved told me he was in card game with five more and scme- one put lis head in the door and shouted that the ship was sinking.
 And they said also that more women could have been saved only they would not go without their husbands. The of- fcers pulled some of them apart--the women from the men-and showed the women into the boats, telling them that they wanted all the women together and all the men together. And even then they could not get the half of them to go.
 "A woman passenger told me that one beautiful old lady put her arms around her hus bands neck and neither the off cers nor her husband could get her arm loose. And neither one of them was saved"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Enterprislng Hotel Men

The Daily National Hotel Reporter or Chicago contains an interesting letter from Mobile giving an account of the Herveys, who recently leased the Hotel Roden of Birmingham. George H. Her vey of Pensacola, and C. B. Hervey or Mobile, are perhaps the most widely known hotel men in the south. Their company-the Hervey Hotel company operates a string of hotels in the south, among them being the San Carlos in Pensacola and the Cawthon in Mobile. The Mobile correspondent of the Hotel Reporter says in part
 The location of the Birmingham hotel is at the corner of Fifth avenue and Eighteenth street, probably the most de- sirable place in the Alabama metropolis. The building which is to bear the name or Hotel Roden,' is to be 12 stories and will be sof steel and concrete and brick, con- taining 325 bedrooms, every one an out side room. with bath or connecting show CT bath. The lease was made for 2O years and there was a lively contest among the. bidders for what is considered probably the best hotel proposition in the SphtH lOudS. Hat tHO ilCt fSJo WIZ N'-0 successful bidders is a splendid compli- ment to- them and to the cities where they now operate hotels, their regulations as hotel managers having become familiar with the commercial and tourist travel throughout the country.
 |" One of the main reasons which prompted us to acquire the lease of the Birmingham proposition Mir Hervey said, was the fact that 1t is sure to greatly increase the business of the San Carlos and the Cawthon. I feel sure tsdt with the best hotel in Alabama we can route hundreds of people to the Deep Water city,
 Tt will <be one of the best advertise ments Pensacola can have, thinks MT. Hervey, because the thousands of guests who will patronze the Birmingham hos telry will have constant reminders of the Deep Water city, both in the form of personal reminders and the views and scenes which will be in the corridors.
 |" The south is now beginning to come into it's own,' MT. Hervey said. The new roads coming into Pensacola from the Birmingham district will develop a mutual interest between the two and expect Birmingham and Pensacola to be- come two of the greatest cities in the south
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
An Engineer,s Visit

Carl Scholz of Chicago, who has been at the Hotel Hillman for two days, is a prominent engineer and is president of and vice president of the Consolidated Indiana Coal company. Although com paratively young man he is known as a high class mining expert.
 T have visited Birmingham several times, but not until this trip have I had time to see the residence sections of the city," said MT. Scholz. 'tThis Is most beautiful city, and is attractive in every way. Birmingham has a great future It seems to be enjoying great prosperity now and it has so much to make it grow such great resources-that it's possbili- ties are limitless.
 "A year or so ago Oklahoma City was much in the public view. It had made strides and many persons thought that it would continue to stride, but I was there recently and found it terribly de- pressed. It Is the most lifeless place I have seen this year. Birmingham and Oklahoma City are both young as cities go, but no matter if Oklahoma City does revive it will never be in the class with this great industrial center. Birming- ham is not only a coal, iron and steel town, but l find that 1t is situated in a very productive agricultural country. The outside world only thinks of Birmingham as place where pig iron is produced and where steel rails are made. But Birmingham is a cotton market of con siderable importance and with all this con bination no wonder it Is a great mer- cantile center.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
: LAWRENCE MILL WORKERS

Ray Stannard Baker, reporting the Lawrence strike in the May American Magazine, shows how the poor of all na- tions have been pitted against each other in the mills of New England until the wages have been reduced to figure where human life cannot be sustained in good health and with a decent regard for the moral rights of people. Following is an extract:
 What was the result of these condt tions? Well, for the workmen 1t meant the lowest possible standards of living Men with large families had to compete with adventurous single men and nn- married girls. No man can support a fam fly on $500 or s40O year even though he lives in the meanest way. The result was that the wife also had to go Into the mills, followed by one child after an- other, as fast as they arrived at the legal age. It took the combined earnings of many members of the family to feed and clothe the family. This meant the break up of all decent family life and all effort toward real civilized develop ment It meant living in dark tene- iHciAlHs II ldhAh6 III AcNoSAS " the point of indecent crowdipg. Some of the tenements of Lawrence are the worst ever saw. Land owners have been allowed to fill their lots full Of great loose wooden structures, the back tenements, which are approached by nar- row alleyways, often being set within a few feet of the front tenements. Dark, damp. foul smelling holes of rooms are the resrllt--with the rents placed at the can screw out of these ignorant people. Statistics show that the rentals in Law renee are almost as high (95 per cent as those in the enormously larger city of New York and that food prices are high CT Qo5 per cent, than those in New York these figures being from the report of the British Board of Trade.
 T did not find any cases of actual and
 immediate starvation such as were re- ported fin certain newspapers. but it is an undoubted fact that there is an ap- palling amount of underfeeding. l asked the ages of many young people I met and they looked (and they were) stunted, not fully developed. Thousands, also, in this city which often suffers from .over- production of cloth, go unclad; in the crowds of strikers on the streets on those bitter March mornings, the number I saw without overcoats and evidently too thin
 y clad, was very great. And in their homes, wherever went the tendency was to crowd into the kitchen and save coal by keeping only one room warm.
 ''The result of all this is high death rate from that index disease of under feeding, exposure and poor sanitary con- ditions-tuberculosis. Also, the young children die at an appalling rate Q69 per 10o0); and when I heard people tell of the savings of operatives in the banks I thought of the 154 pauper burials in Law renee in 19l0.a higher rate in proportion to the population than that of New York eity-and among people where pauper bu- rial Is lasting disgrace to the family that survives"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
THE OLD FAMILIAR FACES

By Charles Lamb. have had playmates, have had com
 panions In my days of childhood. in my joyful
 school days; All, all are gone. the old familiar faces. have been laughing, have been ca-
 rousing, Drinking late, sitting late, with my bosom
 cronies; All. are gone the old familiar faces. I loved a love once. fairest among wom-
 en; Closed are her doors on me, must not
 see her; AL aV are gone, the old familiar faces. I have friend. kinder friend has no
 man; Like an ingrate left my friend abruptly; Left him, to muse on the old familiar
 faces. Ghost like I paced round the haunts of
 my childhood; W Earth seemed a desert I was bound to
 traverse, Seeking to find the old familiar faces. Friend of my bosom. thou more than a
 brother yl Why vert thou not born in my fathers
 dwelling? f So might we talk of the old familiar
 faces How some they have died. and some they
 have left me, And some are taken from mes all are de-
 parted All. all are gone. the old familiar faces.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
An Eight Hour Day in Pennsylvania

Beginning May 1 the Cambria Steel company has decided to establish an eight hour day at it's blast furnaces. This means three shifts daily instead of two of 12 hours each.
 This innovation has long been in contemplation. Employees have long desired it, and now that it has come at the Cambria concern it will very likely spread to blast furnaces where ever they exist in this country.
 The effect of the change upon the price of pig iron may not be imme- diate, but in the long run all that en- ters into the sum total of cost will be felt. The new plan increases the cost of production, and like any other in- crease it will be fitted to the pro- duction The payroll and pig iron cost are naturally adjusted to each other.
 In this connection report pre- sented at the last annual meeting of the Steel corporation is of interest. "We are of the opinion" says the re- port, ''that a 12 hour day of labor, followed continuously by any group of men for any considerable number of years, means the decreasing of the efficiency and lessening of the vigor and virility of such men. When 1t is remembered that the 12 hours day to the man in the mill means approxi-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
ALABAMA FOR UNDERWOOD

From the Boston Globe.
 The Alabama democrats this week elect ed 24 delegates to the democratic national convention and instructed them to vote for Oscar Underwood until nomination for President shall have been made.' This sounds like hard and fast instruc- tions to stick by the favorite son to the end
 Representative Underwood, as chairman of the ways and means committee of the House, is fully as important figure in Congress as Speaker Clark and in the event of a deadloclled convention his name easily may find favor. He comes from the south, which has not named a candidate since the days of the civil war, but which all the time has been fur nishng the bulk of the democratic vote in the electoral college; it's demand for recognition certainly has some force
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-23
A MIsFIT SERMON
From the Chicago Post.

rioih thc NHitdSo foSt.
 A popular lrishman. beloved for many a mile around his home town. died sud- denly. He belonged to several organiza- tions, and the A. o. II. of Bloomville de- cided to send representative to his fu- reral.
 The church was packed and the clergy man most sympathetic. In expressing his certainty or immortality he went in for simile.
 We will say" he observed in illustra- tion, that here is beautiful watch. The case is gold and is studded with dia- nonds. It looks like the valuable part of the watch, but you can remove the works and they will keep on ticking." The delegate returned to his home town and was sounded on the topic of the fu- neral sermon.
 Well" he reported, ."the father said that Pat was no Waterbury"