davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
Dr. Wiley's Retirement

Dr. Wiley, who took a spineless pure food and drugs act and trans formed it into a protection to con sumers, has been forced to resign, and "what," asks the Providence Journal, lis MT. Taft going to do about it? Nothing apparently. The new chief of the bureau of chemistry will either serve the bureaucrats who have tri- umphed in the enormous undertaking of wearing out Dr. Wiley, or his tenure will be brief. In either case the public interests will be inadequate ly served and the pure food law flouted. In the circumstances does not it appear that MT. Taft-to apply to the situation a historic expression out of his own lips-has come to the parting of the ways? This federal statue is moderate measure. Its in- tent is simple, commanding nothing  more than common honesty. An ad- ministration which permits it to be- come paralyzed will be held culpable in an uncommon degree. What other statue touches so intimately the ma terial concerns of so many persons? :? There is a lively suspicion that the meddlesome combination which oper- ates in the bureau of chemistry would be quickly disposed of were it not for the fact that the department of az riculture is honeycombed with influ- ences of like sinister kind, or with dry rot"
 This is the true situation, but Dr. Wiley's zeal and fidelity will yet op- crate to give more vitality to pure food laws. The people will yet say that the really responsible official is the President himself. He would have been compelled in a campaign to re- model the department of agriculture but even that would have been less damaging than the departure of Dr. Wiley because he was, surrounded in that department by men who were plotting his destruction, simply be- rause he had striven to prevent the sale of adulterated or misbranded ar. ticles of food and drugs. The people will yet reward Dr. Wiley's zeal and fidelity.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
i New Association

"I had always associated the accordeon with the rural part of the country and never as a musical instrument from which great expression and soulful music could be produced,' said theatregoer, "I was expecting disappointment when Pietro was announced at the Orpheum this week and you can imagine my surprise when he developed one of the best musical acts l ever heard.
 Never has the swing and glide of pop ular music appealed to me as it did when he played It. I wanted to dance right away, and I think the large audience joined me in the desire. Everybody start ed humming the tunes; everybody's foot was keeping time. It was a revelation to me and l know to many others. Il was my first knowledge of the musical possibilities of the accordeon, and I was delighted
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
THE LIFE OF A POET

From Vaughans Biographical Sketch of Milton.
 An aged clergyman who had seen him in his later years describes him as seated in small chamber hung with rusty green, in an elbow chair, dressed in black; pale, but not cadaverous; his hands and feet gouty, and with chalkstones.
 He used also to sit in a gray, warm cloth seat at the door of his house near Bunhill Fields in warm sunny weather to enjoy the fresh air. And sd, as well as in his room, he received the visits of distinguished poets as well as quality. He took little wine, and was very simple in his diet.
 | In early life he injured his sight and his general health by night study, sab- sequently he learned to get fair night s rest, going to bed at and arising in the summer at 1, in the winter at 5. Should he not be disposed to rise at that hour some one commonly read to him. Afte. rising he listened to the reading of 8 i chapter from the Hebrew Bible. l He then followed his studies until mid day. After a brief outdoor exercise ht dined. then played on the organ or sang or requested his wife, who had a goot voice. to sing to him. He then resumed 1 his mental occupations until G. From tt s he received visitors.
 Between and he took a supper O olives and some light food, smoked hi pipe of tobacco, drank his glass of watel and retired to rest. He died somewha suddenly of what is called "gout strucl in," lacking one month of having com pleted his sixty-sixtlr year. He wa buried beside his father in the Churcl | of St Giles Cripplegate
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21

| Chicago Correspondence New York Tel | egraph.
 | J. Brandt Walker, the Chicago plunger who amassed a fortune of millions in Wall street during the 1907 panic, is dying. | He is down and out-ill with tuberculosis in some refuge in the Adirondaeks, and with sherff's deputies, armed with writs, hunting desperately for what remnants of worldly possessions he has left in New | York and elsewhere. His friends here say he is camped in the Adirondacks, they will not tell where, | fighting his last battle
 The life of Brandt Walker reads like a romance. It has been gay one, and dotted with many periods in the extremes of poverty and prosperity. He is nearly 50 years old, and he has spent three nfths of his career dallying with the goddess of fortune,
 Adversty to him was a mere incident Money is easy to get if you keep at it" was his motto, and when a sudden turn in the market found his all swept away for Brandt bet every cent he had when he had it-he would borrow and keep on LDDNiiDtNs He had the happy faculty of turning a slO bill into a million without missing his hair or wilting a collar. When things became too slow for Wal ker in Chicago he went to New York. That was several years before the panic time.
 The story of his worldfamed winnings | on the short side of stocks in 1907 fur nishes material for a splendid bit of fie- tion From a stack of. white chips trans formed into several thousand dollars in one nights sitting at faro bank in Can fields in New York he ran the stake.into the millions, selling Union Pacific and other railroad stocks short. when these securities crashed down during that period of depression.
 summer home at Lakewood, N. J., with elaborate furnishings and a colec- ton of oil paintings by old masters, and sumptuous city apartments, were ac- qulred with lavish hand when Walker cashed in his fortune.
 During the last big days of his stock market coup it is said his profits aver aged s5O0,00O a day for week of exchange trading sessions. Five million dollars all servative estimate of his total winnings. But 1t all went, just as it came.
 q had rather die a poor man, sitting on high stool and watching the ticker Walker once said, than to be a rich man lacking even a single interest to keep him | alive"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
doomed to death before the drug was ad-

| doomed to death before the drug was ao' mnistered.
 Hedonal has no bad after effects. It ls injected in a vein of the left leg ana sehus the patient off into a pleasant orowsy sleep.
 Some of the most interesting discoveries of modern medical science lie in the d. rection of anaesthetics. New drugs Tor making operations painless are continually being invented. and some of them nave very curious properties.
 With one of the latest, scopomaline, the operation has to be carried through in absolute silence. The patients body is quite insensible to pain, but his mind is only drowsy. If a loud word were spoken or an instrument hastily thrown aside after use in the ordinary way. the patient would wake, and this waking would weaken the effect of the drug on his body. Under this curious anaesthetie a loud tone will wake a man when sharp knives and saws fail to.
 One great merit of this anaesthetic is that it is not followed by violent sick ness as most anaesthetics are. The pa TlIeHl Olltn SlttDS Oii TUT i've ol olA iiouAs wakes up hungry. able to take nourish- ing food. and then goes off to sleep again.
 Two other interesting points about this anaesthetic are the fact that, for some reason, it is almost useless in the case of negroes and its immense strength. thimblefuf would send 1000 white men to sleep. -tfl-t4
 A new method of making the patient in- sensible does not require a drug at all. Professor Renard of Geneva has recently discovered that a strong blue light is sufficient for short operations. A blue electric hand lamp with reflector is di- rected toward the patients eye, and the whole, head and lamp, too, covered with a blue gauge veil to prevent white light from trickling in. The undiluted blue light seems to numb the nerve of sight and the paralysing effect extends to the other nerves of the body Many of the less important operations are carried on thus nowadays, particularly in Switzer- land and Germany
 It is interesting to note that that great standby of the sensational story writer, the chloroformed handkerchief which im- mediately produces inconsistencies is laughed at by the medical profession.
 Chloroform takes five to 10 minutes to make man unconscious During that time fresh supplies are constantly need- ed. And If the patient really struggled no doctor in the world could put him un- der, even with ample supplies of the drug. So the chloroformed handkerchief should cease to be part of the novelist's stock In trade,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
Iron Market Firmer

There has been substantial improve ment in the iron market recently and it is believed that it will continue upward
 ''The price of No. 2 foundry, Birming- ham, is $10.50 which is a much better price than prevailed few weeks ago" said man in close touch with the metals trade. T fully expect to see Birmingham iron selling at s11 on a No. basis in the near future. Business conditions seem to he improving all over the coun- try, and the indications point to SIP Iron before the spring is gone. An active SIP market or even a $11 market would add greatly to prosperity in this district"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
WHAT HE ORDERED TO EAT

From the Philadelphia Bulletin.
 Mrs. Burton Harrison. Americas most aristocratic novelist. was discussing, at a dinner, American French.
 Our French is remarkable,' she said. some of us will go to a French play and laugh boisterously at the subtlest and most idomatic jokes, yet when it comes to ordering dishes from a simple French menu we are all at sea-
 Mrs. Burton Harrison smiled
 "A multi-millionaire in a fashionable restaurant" she said, pointed to a line on the menu and said to the waiter:
 I'll have some of that, please
 am sorry. sir the waiter answered, but the band is playing that '
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
More Presidential Primaries

The next presidential preference primary takes place in New York on March 26, followed by one in Wiscon- sin on April ? and one in Illinois and also one in Nebraska on April 9.
 When these are held the presiden- tial race, at least on the republican side. will be well defined and ascer- tained. The steam roller will stand triumphant so far as nomination is
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
From stevenson's Treasure Island"

From Stevenson's Treasure Island"
 IT was fine, open walking here, upon
 the summit, our way lay a little 1 downhill, for, as I have said, the plateau tilted toward the west The pines, great and small, grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of nutmegs and azelea wide open spaces baked in the hot sunshine Striking, as we did, pret- ty near northwest Across the island, we drew. on the one hand, ever nearer un- der the shoulders of the Spyglass, and on the other, looked ever wider over the western bay where I had once tossed and trembled in the coracle.
 The first of the tall trees was reached, and by the bearing proved the wrong one. So with the second. The third rose near ly 200 feet into the air above a clump or underwood, a giant of a vegetable, with a. red column as big as cottage, and a wide shadow around in which com pany could have maneuvered. It was conspicuous far to sea on both the east and west, and might have been entered as a. sailing mark upon the chart.
 But it was not its size that now im- pressed my companions; it was the knowledge that a700,O0o of gold lay somewhere buried below its spreading shadow The thought of the money, as they drew nearer, swallowed up their previous terrors. Their eyes burned in their heads: their feet grew speedier and lighter; their whole soul was bound up in that fortune, that whole lifetime of extravaganza and pleasure that lay walt ing there for each of them.
 Silver hobbled. grunting on his crutch' his nostrils stood out and quivered; ne cursed like madman when the flies set tied on his hot and shiny eountenanee he plueked furiously at the line that held me to him, and, from time to time, turned his eyes upon me with a deadly look. Ger tainly he took no pains to bde ms thoughts; and certainly read them liKe print. In the immediate nearness or the gold. all else had been forgotten; hls promise and the doctors warning were
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
A Species of Vandalism

''Vandals. small boys, perhaps, have been marking and disfiguring French plate show windows recently said a prominent Second avenue merchant. "If we had a larger police force this species of vandalism might be prevented.
 ''I believe in boys being boys and I make allowance for all sorts of boyish pranks. But the youngster who mars the front of a fine house with a piece of chalk or scratches French plate glass should be caught and sent to a reform atory."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
GRAMMARIAN REAPPEARs
,,, tha New York Sun

E'TOn1 the NeW LII n t'uii
 Far through the memory shines one sentence in the Latin Reader: Inter arma silent leges. Which heinz interpreted IS: 'sWhen the campaign is on the gram marian is off" Put not your trust in proverbs, though. for in Buffalo, where the poet asked to be put off, where he asked the girls to "come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon, ' grammar flourishes as literature used to flourish. and politics can't choke 1t iff
 .'To the Editor of The Sun: Sir-The Sun has always maintained a high stand ard in the literary world for purity of English and regard for Goold Brown English grammar.
 "In the days of Dana the split infini' tive among contemporaries brought on a mild form of hysteria.
 This is merely preface to the inquiry Is present incumbent correct or notY
 "P. MINISTER.
 Buffalo, March IA.
 I If the Sun has maintained mgr standard in the literary world, 1t mas no been from any regard for Goold Brown or anybody else's grammar. It has Ter vently and steadily devoted to the i''io' of ennui and the devils of duiiness .n' whole tribe of prigs and pedants caiie' e-ra mmarians. We don't care and neVel did care a rap for Goold Brown or any other solemn sumph who seeks 10 m orison in his inkhorn or tie to his terui tho boundless genius of the Enghsi language.
 "In the days of Dana the split mimi tive did not breed "a mild form or hys teria,, in the Sun, hysteria not bein' among our gifts. We have gibed the spli infinitive, we have gibed>the grammarian when they gibed it. We were and are per fectly well aware that it has old preceden and use enough in it's favor. Moreover if is an irrepressible infant of speech an' | writing; haste 1t and ban it today an tomorrow it will grin and howl derisivel at you from your own columns. Thus tn philosophic journalist would plan his ow discontinue if he outlawed any word Q
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
WHY HE HAD TO HAVE AN OPTIC

From the Chicago ENenlng foSl.
 An inherited fortune and the disposal of an organized business enabled a we'll known Chicagoan to retire. He had the inclination for leisure, but could not sur render the idea of having a definite business abiding spot.
 He rented an office in a lofty build iny and went to Europe. After a six months absence he returned. looked the building over and went to South Amer lea. Then, after again verifying the report that the building was not crum- bling, he took a jaunt to Japan
 Not long ago one of his old cronies said:
 Frank. why don't you give up youi office-you don't need it.
 That's true, said Frank. 'I would give 1t up. but I don't know what to dc with the rug"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
REFLECTIONS OF 4 BACHELOR

Fro.l the New York Press. on credit.
 man isn't ashamed to get raided at a prize fight the way he is to be caught at reform meeting.
 It's queer how girl can think any body's rubbers will fit her, but every 5ody's shoes be too big for her
 A woman needs two hats, so she can stick different flowers and plumes in them and tell how she has seven.
 You take your hopes with you on youi way to market; they are some other man ; when you are on your way home.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Congressman at Large Race

"A curious feature about the race for congressman at large Is that so few of the voters understand just what the of- fee is and that Alabama is now to have 10 congressman instead of nine, as here- tofore,'' said pr. John w. Abercrombie at the Hotel Hillman last night. T have been all over the state in my candidacy, and it takes a great deal of time eX- blaming this unheard of office to the people,"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
CELEBRATION AT SAME OLD PLACE

From the Chicago Daily News.
 Municipal Judge Sabath was about to enter a judgment requiring Mrs. Bridget Holland to move out of her basement flat at 665 Orleans street for non-payment of rent when the defendant said
 "Can you do me one little favor, juoge Let me stay till St. Patrick's day"
 "Why St. Patricks day?" asked the judge.
 "Oh, your honor, we were going to have a celebration on St.. Patrick's day and I've lived so long in that place no other place would seem like home. I want my friends to come to the same place where we have held our celebrations for five years
 But I have no choice in the matter replied Judge Sabath.. Tn this case the owner asks for a judgment for possession and under the law I can't refuse"
 I'm just washerwoman, your honor, :" pleaded Mrs. Holland, ''and it's a little thing to ask
 Judge Sabath reached Into his pocket, drew out some money and paid the com plainant the womans rent, amounting to S9 50, which will allow her to remain un- til the day after the Irish holiday.
 Bless you. judge said Mrs. Holland, as she turned to leave the court room.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
WONDERFUL ANAESTHETICS

From Pearsops Weekly.
 The latest sensation of the medical world is the new anaesthetic, hedonal. It is the safest of all anaesthetics, with the possible exception of gas. The death which took place in a London children hospital week or two ago is the only one yet recorded. and the patient was
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
THE HAPPY FELLOW.

His spirit scared on golden wings, Above the vale of life's despair; More happy than earths proudest kings He dwelt in castles ofsthe air. When days were dark and Sorrow came Her breeding form aye close at hand, His heart kept singing just the same, As if 1t did not understand. He saw the rose, but not the thorn,
 Fen though at length it pierced him
 deep
 His life seemed like an endless morn In some sweet realm where fairies keep
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
OF COURSE NOT

From the Mobile Register.
 Forget Greater Birmingham, which had but 1s2 6S5 people. It is Greatest Birmng- ham now, with a population officially declared of 211,96l.-Birmingham Age Herald. Congratulations, But surely. you do not expect Birmingham to stop at 2llg6l?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
roo MUCH PASSWORD FOR HIM Washington Letter to the New Tor

TOO MUCH PASSWORD FOR HIM Washington Letter to the New York
 World.
 senator Bacon of Georgia piloted a constituent around the capitol for while and then, having some work to do on the floor, conducted his visitor to the Senate gallery. After an hour or so the visitor approached gallery doorkeeper and said:
 My name is Swate I am friend of Senator Bacon. He brought me here. and I want to go out and look around a bit I thought that I would tell you, so I can get back in
 That's all right" said the doorkeeper, but I may not be here when you return. In order to prevent any mistake l will give you the password, so you can get your seat again.
 whats the word.' Mr swate asked.
 "Idiosyncrasy."
 "What?' Asr "Idiosyncrasy." T guess I'll stay in." said Swate.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
TARHEEL REVELRY

Toecane Letter to the Mitchell County (N. co Kronicle.
 Well, l wish everybody could have been at the candy cracking at D. c. Hin sons q few nights ago. They danced juber and killed the yellow cat till you could not stand 1t.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21

phrase; he would become most unphilo- sophical; in short, set up for grammarian. will you have the white meat or the dark! Do you want your >steak rare or well done? Are you for or against the spit infinitive? Questions of personal taste and preference.
 Present incumbent" how often do tne children of grammar and other darkness ask us that. There can be but one Tn cumbent, one fellow in possession or the benefice or the job. he who now lncumps' On this theory, you can say former m cumbent," but not "present incumbent there you slop over into tautoiogy. se be if HOW. about "present owner?" Those who have plenty of leisure and the inclin- ation may ponder these mighty issues. For our part, we have no wish to split hairs while accursed time grabs at our own.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21

If the presidential campaign were a beauty contest, T. R. and Woodrow Will son would be barred out, but oscar Un- derwood would not be.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
THEY SAY THEY DO

From the Boston Transcript. ~"1 suppose you read about the Ameri can Forty Immortals the other dayr'
 "Yes: but why forty?"
 Because they are men who AL
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21

senaotr Cullom sees nothing in the res igration of the postmaster of khowhegan, Me, to commend. That postmaster was nnlv ao wears old.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
aMY HAT IS IN THE KITCHEN"

St. Cloud, Minn., Dispatch to the New
 Sun.
 Despite the many explanations of Col onel Roosevelts utterance, My hat is in the ring, Edward Brick, chief of police of this city, says he has the only real story. According to Chief Brick. Colonel Roosevelt learned the remark in North Dakota.
 "It used to be the custom of the rancher," said the chief, after he had been to town and had acquired load, to ride up to the house, open the kitchen door little and toss in his hat, If After a reasonable wait the hat was al lowed to remain the man knew that his wife was willing to let him come in, but if the hat sailed out again he knew that danger awaited.
 "I am sure that Colonel Roosevelt had that in mind when he made the state- ment. It was an invitation for the peo- pie to make known to him whether they wanted him for President. In other words, if they allowed his hat to re- main in the ring he would follow 1t in.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
YE CARPETTE KNYGHTE.

 have a horse-a right good horse No doe I envye those Who secure ye blaine in headie course, Tyll soddaine on they're nose They lyghte wyth unexpected force It ys horse of clothes. I have a saddel-"Sayest thou so? With styrrupes, Knyghte to boote?' I sayde not that-I answere Noe It lacketh such, I woot- It ys a mutton saddel, Toe! Parte of ye fleecie brute. I have bytte-a ryghte good bytte- As schall bee scene in tyme. Ye jawe of horse vt wyll not fytte- Yts use is more sublime. Fayre Syr, how deemest thou of vt? Vt ys-thys bytte of rhyme.
 Lewis Carroll.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21

The Champ Clark managers in Iowa are endeavoring 10 have every county delega- tion carry hound to the state conven- ton This is regarded as humor in Mis-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21

Why does not the department of agricul- ture tell the people what baking powders contain leade The people could then pro- tect themselves.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21
MY YOUTH

By Aldrich
 This is my youth--its hopes and dreams. How strange and shadowy it all seems,
 After these many years. Turning the pages idly, so. I look with smiles upon the woe. Upon the joy with tearsI
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-21

Premier Asquith is so bothered by the coal strike he begins to envy Yuan and President Madero their soft jobs.