davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
Campaign Collections in 1908

Postmaster General Hitchcock was chairman of the Taft campaign in 1908, and he swears that the Taft election fund of that year was $1 ,655,- 51S.37. The odd cents are added to show the accuracy of the statement MT. Sheehan was chairman of the Parker campaign committee of that year, and on the witness stand he es- timated the democratic funds at s1,0O0,000. Money from trusts was not accepted.
 The Roosevelt fund in 1904 was S2,O00,000, because the Hartman money was not included in the state ment. Here are facts that go to show how expehsive national campaigns have become under the tactics of the republican party and the protective policy. The figures of the Mark Hanna campaigns of 1896 and 1900 will never be accurately known, but the belief is that they exceeded all records either before or after. Those campaigns are considered the very heighth of corruption at the ballot box.
 The expenditure of these vast sums is never all honestly expended. Graft and corruption go hand in hand when these sums are handed out to be ex- pended in the contested states. No remedy appears in sight, but we may be sure that vast Taft fund will this year be extracted from tariff benefi- ciaries and the trusts, all of which stand unharmed, and the sum total may rival even Mark Hanna's figures.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
QUITE LIKELY.

An Ohio woman wants divorce from her husband because he criticises her Eng fish. the color of her dresses and even finds fault with the angle of the willow plume on one of her very best hats. We shouldn't like to condemn a person un- heard, but we suspect that this particular man has a mean disposition.
 ALL IN THE DAYS WORK. The boy stood on the burning deck In most heroic style; The moving picture men. by heck, Were busy all the while.
 Birmingham Age-Herald> It was a summer evening, Old Kaspar's work was done And there before his cottage door They counted out his mon. He took the coin contentedly; ' Twill be famous filnl,'' said he.
 Milwaukee Sentinel.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
IN A PORTUGUESE GARDEN

Thomas Walsh in Harpers Weekly. Gone is he who bore the thunder
 Of Braganzas kings afar;
 Down the Indus worlds of wonder
 Lit their scepter with his star; Gone-so days last pageant holders Gone, the swarthy, bleeding shoulders Golden shackled to his car! Moonlight on his pools and basins
 And the shadow of a lose; Down the cypress cliffs there nastens
 Water glamorous as those Loosed by Cynthia off the mountains Here, where mosses hushcd the fountains Of Endymions repose. Nightingales. whose breast remembers Loves so rare as these. Round the roofless temple embers,
 Tiled kiosks, and druid trees With wilder sob are shaken Where the Viceroy's halls forsaken- Echo back his far decrees. All his spices, plumes and treasure
 Could they match the sheathing moss Der his threshold ?-could they measure Aught that puts the rose at loss? Though his carven trophies glory---
 In their crumbling Sanskrit stogy.
 Let its petals fall acrosA
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
One of the Popular Preacher.

Peter Clark MacFarlane is contribu ting series of sketches to Golfers on American preachers, and the one in the current number Is on Newell Dwight Hills. the preacher who is conspiring to make Brooklyn beauti- full" said an old citizen who has spent much of his time in New York.
 "The Rev. Dr. Hillis occupies the pull pit long filled by Henry Ward Beecher MT MacFarlane, who portrays the Brooklyn preacher, has fine Insight into character and his literary style Is graphic and brilliant
 ''1 heard Beecher when he was at his best. l have heard many orators in and out of the pulpit, but Beecher was, perhaps. the greatest. His power of expression was marvellous. I was, not in sympathy with Beecher's theology but every time I heard him I felt l was under spell.
 q have never heard Hillis, but have read with pleasure many of his ad- dresses. When he delivered a lecture in the lyceum course at the Birming- ham High school something prevented me from being present. He is from all accounts a most engaging speaker
 "Bcecher was a man with a great sweep of emotion. No actor before the footlights could more easily thrill an audience than Beecher. His dra- matic passion was spontaneous and when his emotion welled up his elo- quence came like a torrent
 According to Mir. MacFarlane. Hills holds ais congregation in the hollow of his hand, but he does 1t with quiet eloquence. The people of Plymouth church loved and revered Beecher,' says MacFarlane, and they love and revere Hillis, seeing nothing odious in com parisons and believing that they differ merely as one star differs from an- other star in Glory One of the most conspicuous achievements of Dr. Hills is found in the Brooklyn beautiful movement His biographer says. in part
 "'Dr. Hillis has set them of that sity (Brooklyn) at their task and the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
Reduction of Express Rates

It is intimated that the express com- panies will accept the terms named in the report of Franklin K. Lane of the interstate commerce commission, hoping in that way to avert the estab- lishment of parcels post. The ad- ministrative reforms suggested by Mr. Lane have already been adopted and will be put into effect at once. The rates to be charged will be de- termined in October.
 Let no one, however, expect that the commissions rates when made will sidetrack the popular demand for parcels post. Both parties stand pledged to establish parcels post, and these platform promises will as suredly be kept. The popular feeling on this subject is unmistakable, and only hardened standpatter will be found voting to the contrary. The commissions plans are halfway measures at the most, and they will never be accepted as full substitute for a parcels post.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Great Prosperity Predicted

4The year 1912 Is witnessing a good deal of prosperity, notwithstanding the fact that it Is presidential election year. said A. F. Mesner. connected with large manufacturing concern of Philadelphia.
 If the crons turn out to be satisfac- tory. as reports indicate, next fall will be very busy time.
 Tt Is generally felt that solid. record breaking boom all over the country will start up in 1913, and that it will continue for several vears
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
A DRIFTING APART.

Well, what did you think of Dr. Plump CTS sermon this morning?" asked Mrs. Poopleigh of MT. Poopleigh. as they were returning home.
 I'm afraid, my dear,' said MT. Poop leigh, that I failed to catch the drift of his remarks''
 No doubt. no doubt" observed Mrs. Poopleigh, in caustic tones. And the rea- son why you failed to catch the drift of pr. Plumper's remarks was probably be- cause you yourself were drifting toward Sunderland.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
THE OLD WATER JIG.

You may have gazed into the bronze and icy depths of the cheerful highball, or looked with pleasure at a glass of foaming amber as it stood upon the pol ished mahogany with the breeze from the purring fans blowing the snowy froth to one side, but if you have worked amid the hot, brown stubble of the hay field upon a long July afternoon, it was there that you had the best drink of your life 1t was from the water jug.'-Lamar Dem- ocrat.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
oUITE HEARTLEss

From the Houston Post.
 The Birmingham Age-Herald says two Alabama postmasters are trembling m their boots It will be soul scorchins disappointment to us if we ascertain tnat ao0O0o postmasters are not fremohng Ill their boots.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
SEVEN MODERN WONDERS

H. H. Windsor in the August Popuiar
 Mechanics Magazine.
 The Seven Wonders of the Modern World, It were a far easier task for oven the learned men who shared In the selection to name seven score than seVeh' On every hand, by night, by day' we walk and see and breathe amid multi- t,,de of wonders, which are no wonders to ,s. hut only commonplace, because mart of our everyday existence. Tooay sn infants feeble voice finds It's unerrlns way along a tiny wire across rivers ana ovar nlains end mountains to the one horne in millions it seeks. To us no won der. and our young men and women can not recall the time before the telephone was. They use without thought an instrument before which the Seven Wise Men would have prostrated themselves as a thing supernatural.
 The Seven Ancient Wonders were se- lected by the Greeks, and their right to the title was established before Christ was born During all the intervening years no attempt has been made to definitely revise the .sSeven Wonders" CenerdI1Ol dIteT ScHcIdtioIi hoS SO''NS ~--@ gone accepting the decision one from the other. In fact there was no opporfuni- ty for a revision. As the years increased civilization ebbed and about all tne man-made marvels we have to sno" TOT those POGO years of human life are 1ew .cathedrals and pictures.
 Of the ancient wonders only one was a practical utility-Pharos, the 4o-foot lighthouse of Alexandria; one was hanging garden, not for the people. but built by a queen for her sensual pleasure; two were tombs; one was temple or beauty devoted to a beathen god; an- other. the Colossus of Rhodes, was ireakish mass of cast metal, less than half the height of our own Statue of Lib erty. and not comparable in dignity; and one was a beautiful statue to typify cer- tain aesthetic ideals. Not single ore created for the uplifting or well being of the masses.
 As brute force. represented in vast ar mics. was the measure of power, so the ancients honored the strong arm and the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
CONTACT.

En passant, as 1t were, We might remind you that the Hon. John L. Sullivan Is sticking consistently to his Massachusetts farm. On rainy days no doubt his farm sticks consistently to him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
THE LESSON.

The world would be a fairer place And life itself more sweet, Could we but learn, while in the race, To profit by defeat, Could we but shape our shattered dreams To something better still And battle where hopes beacon gleams, With ever dauntess will.
 PAUL COOK.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

A FELL INSTRUMENT. Kind friend who writes My epitaph, Please don't consult The dictagraph, Which has a way
 Of speaking true, No matter how t May damage you.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

The summer season is trying to make good the deficit of heat piled up last winter,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
The Damaging Rains

If these hard rains don't cease, we will rot have any more roads nor crops out along the Alabama Great Southern" said E. F. Strickland, a well known farmer of Springville, and while in Birmingham this week he talked of the effect of the present weather on his section.
 "We had one good road but these con- tinual rains have washed 1t almost out of sight One might take 1t for a ditch now, instead of a road. It is the consen- sus of opinion among the farmers around springville that the present summer has been the hardest on crops for ten years"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
HIDE BOUND
tha pnrtland Telegram.

From the Portland Telegram.
 The Birmingham Age-Herald remarks that .Uncle Joe Cannon has not yet picked out his brand of republicanism.' It is not necessary. Uncle Joe always takes ''hisn" straight.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

Norman E. Mack and trey woodson have stepped out of the llmelight and are lost to the public eye.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

Mrs. Champ Clark has quit the demo- cratic party. but Champ himself is still loyal and true.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

The bullmoosers need look no further for a running mate. Governor Blease is the man they want.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

Abdul Hamid's harem has been cut down to six wives. In the days of his full power sextet was not circum- stance.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

Harrimans contribution in 1904 outran Belmont's by sl0,000. The former went to aid Roosevelt, while the latter was put in for Parker's benefit.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

MT. Taft will be notified August i and Woodrow Wilson on August that they are to be rivals for a four year lease of the White House.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

A tracer will have to be sent out if any one really desires to locate the Hon. Joseph Gurney Cannon.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
The Presidential Campaign

Presidential campaign methods may 1 change from time to time in some par l ticulars. but the routine work of cam paign committees is essentially the same as It was when I was a young voter, said an old democrat.
 T took an active part in the campaign
 of 1s76 when MT. Tilden was the demo- cratic standard bearer. National con- tests call for a slogan. MT. Tilden was
 a tariff for revenue only democrat, but his slogan was, Turn the rascals out, | referring to the republican officeholders who had been so long intrenched In pow CT as to make the phrase sound plausi- ble. Of course, the great majority of republican officeholders in that day were honest and capable as the majority of them are today. But Turn the rascals out was a delicious democratic phrase ard one that took with the boys The
 outs wanted to get in, and in those
 days civil service reform had hardly started, although MT. Tilden was called the great reformer on general principles.
 The democratic campaign in 1876 was thorough. MT. Tilden was an astute poll tician, and he left no detail unconsidered.
 'In 1880 there was very little stir In the democratic camp because General Han- cocks defeat was a foregone conclusion
 soon after his nomination, but in 1884 this country witnessed an exceptionally hot campaign. I doubt If there was ever any hotter political contest before that of 1884. when Cleveland defeated Blaine. Certain 1t is that there has been no cam paign hotter since then.
 T saw some reference to the pending campaign being particularly dignifed as compared with other campaigns. I would
 be glad to see it continue so, but I im- sgine that before the ides of November politics will be at fever heat. There will
 be little opportunity for mud singing,
 perhaps, but the republican slush fund will be in evidence. Republican corrup- ton will make the situation as ugly as 1t was in 1s96 when the late Mark Han na raised. it is said, s1o.O00,o00 to make sure of McKinley's election. ;.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

August Belmont contributed $25o,000 to the Parker campaign fund in 1904. and he did not get much of run for his money.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
DO IT Now!"

HS The stenographer sat down at her ma chine again. The wind coming through the window fiuttered a piece of purple bunting-but it fiuttered it lisrlessly.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

Governor Harmons pre-convention cam raign is said to have cost Sl60,0o. Some of it may have been left in this state.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

Secretary Macveash is not e.sturbed by the row in his department He knows he is on the last lap of his job.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

Americans play the game of politics at high figures, and the money is taken from consumers in the last analysis.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

Joseph F. Davies, who has become sec retary of the democratic national com mittee was once a Wisconsin athlete.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

The esteemed republican papers are trying to pick out the soft spot in the Wilson administration that Henry Wat terson will be assigned to.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
WAY OF THE GOLF PLAYER

owen Johnson in the Century Magazine "vER since the historic day when a ~ visiting clergyman accomplished A the feat of pulling a ball from the tenth tee at an angle of 225 degrees into the river that is the rightful receptacle for the eighth tee, the Stockbridge goir course has had IT out. of IS holes that are punctuated with water hazards.
 The charming course itself lies in the flat of the sunken meadows which the Housatonic, in the few thousand years which are necessary for the proper prep aration of a golf course. has obligingly eaten out of the high. accompanying bluffs The river, which goes wriggling on it's way as though convulsed with merriment, is garnished with luxurious elms and willows, which occasionally de- fleet to the difficult putting greens the random slices of certain notorious anna teurs.
 From the spectacular bluffs of the ed- ucated village of Stockbridge nothing can be imagined more charming than the panorana that the course presents on busy day. Across the soft, green stretches diminutive caddies may be seen scampering with long bucklhg, nets' while from the river banks numerous reeklessly exposed legs wave in the air as the more socially presentable parts hang frantically oyer the swirling cur rent
 Occasionally an enthusiastic golfer. driving from the eighth or ninth tees may be seen to start immediately Tn headlong pursuit of a diverted ball, the swing of the club and the intuitive leap of the legs forward forming so contin- uous a movement that the main purpose of the game often becomes obscured to the mere spectator. Nearer, in the n'i- merous languid swales that nature has generously provided to protect the inter ests of the manufacturers, or in the fip- bling patches of unmown grass, that in the later hours will be populated by en- thusiastic caddies, desperate groups lin- ger in botanizing attitudes
 Every morning lawyers who are neg
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

Mascagni, the composer, says the pub lie does not know what it is talking about when it says chorus girls are old enough to be grandmothers.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

Although Lorimer was technically never a member of the Senate, yet the vote he cast for Ike Stephenson stands and will continue to stand in the records.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

The Waterbury. Conn.,, Republican ad- vises it's readers to vote for Taft, pray for Roosevelt, and bet on Wilson.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

now engaged in gumshoeing back to the 6. o. D.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
The Iron Market

"The iron market continues very firm with an upward tendency of prices" say Matthew Addy 6 Co. in their Cincinnati report. Naturally the interest of the week has been centered in the steel busi- ness, where there has been continued great activity. The Steel corporation re- ports more business in sheets and tin plates during the first six months of this year than ever before in it's history, and business Is still keeping up. The hot summer months are having little effect on the operations of the steel companies, and they are making every effort to keep their plants running at full capacity. In order to continue to do this some of them in the Pittsburg territory have been forced to increase wages.
 At the present writing the railroads are showing some hesitancy in placing or ders, owing to the advanced prices of cars and the uncertainty of having ship ments made promptly. However, very large inquiries are out for,railroad equip ment and a number of big sales are re- ported. Several large contracts for struc- tural steel have also been placed re- gently. Basic and malleable irons have been advanced slightly during the past week in the Pittsburg territory, and the producers are holding rigidly to the new quotations.
 Tn the south the ironmasters are all feel ing decidedly optimistic. There the mar ket seems to gain strength each day. A number of sales have recently been re. ported on basis of sl2 Birmingham for No. ?, for last quarter shipment which Is the highest price obtained for southern iron for more than two years. Southern stocks are steadily decreasing, and they all look for very much higher prices be- fore the year is over"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
THE LIMIT.

It Is said that Woodrow Wilson used to sing tenor away back in 1883. Oh. well, that was a long time ago. and we might forgive him. but if the fact leaks out that he ever yodeled-Good Night!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
TOOK TOO MUCH.

A very doleful case, alas
 He hoped to 'scape from pain And so he took some laughing gas, But never smiled again.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

The presidential elector declines to be considered wholly cipher this year.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

The Alabama Elks at any rate will not affiliate with the bull moose party.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20

lecting their clients, doctors who have forgotten their patients, business men who have sacrificed their affairs, even ministers of the gospel who have forsaken their churches, gather in the noisy dress ing room and listen with servile atten- tion while some unscrubbed boy who goes around under 80 imparts little of his miraculous knowledge.
 Two hours later, for every ten that have gone out so blithely, two return crushed and Respondent, denouncing and renouncing the game, once and for all, absolutely and finally, until the afternoon. when they return like thieves in the night and venture out in a desperate hope; two more come stamping back in even more offensive enthusiasm; and the re- mainder struggle home moody and dis ilusioned, reviving their sunken spirits by impossible tales of past accomplish ments.
 There is something about these twilight gatherings that suggests the degeneracy of a rugged race; nor is the contamina- tion of merely local significance. There are those who lie consciously. with cer- tain frank, commendable. wholehearted plunge into iniquity. Such men return to their worldly callings with intellectual vigor unimpaired and a natural reaction toward the decalogue. Others of more casuistical temperament, unable all at once to throw over the traditions of New England conscience to, the exigen- cies of the game, do not at once burst into falsehood, but by a confusing pro- cess weaken their memories and corrupt their imaginations. They never lie of the events of the day Rather, they return to some junbled happening of the week before and delude themselves with only a lingering qualm, until from habit they can create what is really a form of paranoia, the delusion of greatness, or the exaggerated ego. Such men, inocu- lated with self deception. return to the outer world, to deceive others, lower the standards of business morality, conram;- nate politics and threaten the vigor of the republic.
 
 mighty insert mass. 1t would seem that the bent up forces of civilization, held in. thrust back, ruthlessly cut down Tor 20 centuries, had finally burst forth 10 fill the nineteenth century with wonders. And the greatest of these are neither connected oceans, mountains thrust through with tunnels, towering struc- lures each housing the population or city, floating palaces land vehicles tnat outdistance the eagle, nor any Of the things which typify the might of muscle. On the contrary each modern wonder IS a monument to the might of mind.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-20
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES
rHERE MIGHT BE 1'RouBLE.

THERE MIGHT BE TROUBLE.
 An Engllshman who is serving a sen- tence of six years in prison for having six wives, probably wouldn't object to serv- ing few years more, If there is any possibility of the six being on hand when he comes out.