davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12

Tn a fine 16 room home on Grymes Hill. Staten Island, live three sisters. Their home commands one of the most wonder ful views in the neighborhood of the metropolis. From their front porch they can see every vessel that enters the harbor of New York. The Narrows and the drowning forts are near by. The lower bay and the Atlantic ocean are before them. To the south are Sandy Hook and that strip of 'coastand that is lined with the summer palaces of the rich. To the west spreads Jersey and it's beautiful roll ing country. To the north over the dis tant waters of the upper bay. are the towering heights of that magic city of siyscrapers.
 Every morning a big 60-horse power au- tomobile draws up to the steps of the Grymes Hill house, and dark slender. medium sized woman of 30, the youngest of the three sisters, enters the car, A mo- ment later it starts off, and she is carried at high speed to St. George, where she boards one of the great ferryboats for Manhattan. In l5 or 20 minutes after her arrival in Manhattan she is at her desk in her office at Fifth avenues sand Forty second street. Then Alice Nj. Durl,in, master builder. is ready for her days s work.
 The sign on the door reads: "DurlIln 3s8 I.aas." Miss Durkin is the senior part per MT. Laas the junior. Not long ago tr. I.aas was her employe, but recently she admitted him to share in the business. A few weeks ago the Building Trades as- sociation of New York invited Miss Dur kin to a membership in that body This fr tt,.. f,.-f tf fr9aa prAft has hap taken into that association. They wanted her to deliver an address at their ban qret, but she declined on the ground that she was a worker-not talker.
 There dre a fair number of women in New York who have gone in for architec- ture. Some Of them have made striking successes in this line. But, so far as Is Known, Miss Durkin is the only one of her sex who has become a building con tractor She asks odds sof no one, and looks for no favors. She has long passed the stage of doubt. She has proved her self, and has arrived. Today she is one of the recognized figures among the big contractors of New York
 If you search the whole metropolis over you hardly could Ind one woman who looks more unlike what your idea of contractor would be- There is noth- ing about her to suggest iron or steel, stone or brick, rafters or girders. She is rather of the type or the lntelleetual young woman of fashion. She dresses up to the minute in the latest Paris fashions. Her hat is big. frilly white affair that is q joy to feminine eyes. but horror to q Subway crowd. She is neatly booted, her delicate hands show the manicure's art. her hair is dressed in the latest mode, and she Is as exquisite picture as Delmoni- co.'s or Sherry's could furnish at an after noon reception.
 The mon who call to see Miss DuriSln are not of the mold of form or the glass Aof fashion. In her outer office you may Ind gentlemen who follow plumbing for a location, or you may brush against a
 entleman whose shoes are innocent of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12
The Cruel Cost of Furs
the New York Mail.

From the New York Mail.
 A league of influential women is agI tating for the humane banishment of Ill cruel steel trap. It is a familiar col trivance. which boys brought up on farm know all about. Woodchuck| muslrats and other fur bearing animal of the smaller type are it's especial vil tims. The house rat has so many bal qualities and is such a uniform menaol to human welfare that he may be proll erly attacked in almost any method q self defense, though it is not becomin1 to be cruel even to an enemy, and doub1 less there are better ways of killing tn to death
 The steel trap could have given th late Torquemada points that would haya made his bad heart fairly dance witt glee Mediaeval torture chambers sureia could not surpass 1t. To hold a wood chuck by the leg in steel jaws with thI edges of a saw hour after hour suggesa a picture of nervous misery that is shock ing. The lad who is comfortably sleepin. in his farmers bed while his victim f writhing in pain had better wake uII The hunter who has a row of trap which he visits once in three or foul days should try to imagine what it 1 to starve to death, in torture too.
 We have no reason to suppose tha animal nerves differ very much iron man or man from most beats. We ar' ourselves animals. It is needful to de scend very low in the scale of animat. beings before we reach animals by whom dismemberment is not keenIy felt-a. keenly as by man. The trap is a cowardly and lazy del vice. It is, like any other lie, the rel sort of the incompetent If the valor oi the beast Is too great for the man and he is afraid he disguises steel tran If the sharp wit of the animal outwit1 the man and he cannot draw a sight witt rifle In manly way. why confess your self beaten and let tine superior creai ture escape.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12

Some of the locomotives were right out in the jungle. I remember when I was here in 1905 I scared a flock of bats from one of them and was attacked by a swarm Of yellow jackets which had made their nest inside the boiler of another. Great lizards. including iguanas, crawleG about here and there under the car wheels and we had to walk carefully for fear of the snakes. That was near Bohio, on ground that is now covered by the waters of Gatum lake
 Machinery Drowned in Lake Gatun
 And just here that lake which we are making by the great dam at Gatun will be more by less impregnated with ironfrom the French material which will rust away within it's bed. A great deal of the stuff has been left in the jungle, and l saw, away off in the trees, a S20000 excavator twice as big as q threshing machine, up the sides of which the waters of the lake are slowly crawling.
 There are also scores of steel dump cars which have been overturned along the line of the old French canal, now a part of the lake. In one place there is tree as big around as good sized hayeock, which has grown over a steel truck and carried if up with it. The metal car is imbedded iE the trunk of the tree.
 The old French company had altogether over 10,09O cars and 5000 iron dumping wagons. When they gave up the job they allowed vast amount of this to go to waste, and when I first came across the railroad, which was about II years ago, after the second French company had taken hold, there were enough car wheels to equip a trunk line of railway scattered along the canal from one end to the other There were hundreds of car beds which had routed away. I crumbled some of the wood into sawdust in my fingers.
 Queer Things Uncle Sam Got
 During my stay on the isthmus in 1905 visited the warehouses which had then just been turned over to our engineers Among them were buildings which eov- cred as much as 10 acres. They were di- vided into sections and walled with shelves containing all sorts of material Tn one place I found 1900 coal oil torcnes tied to the rafters and near them small haystaek of lamp wicks Along the side
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12

every one who sold or bought ereaseal palm. was told last night of a worthl heaehcomber who had been dtseharped| his employer, a New York contrael just on the eve of the departure of latter for home. 4 few months later New York man returned and saw his empl0ye dressed in straw white. wea S5D Panama hat and having bl| valet to hold up his umbrella. This hl Yorker said:
 .Why, man. your circumstances sd to have changed?'
 "They have,s was the reply T am I now and have made fortune on e tracts"
 How did you do that?" was the n question.
 Tt was easy enough. You reTneIn that bill with the big hole at enc $ of it along the line of the canal, ab eight miles from Colon"
 "Yes"
 Well I took a contract to i'll that | for $7001o A man named Jones had i got another contract to cut down the TOT SlS0ee0 and so 1 charged him $50 tc put his hill in my hole This gave a clean Sleo,0o0 without spending q cent
 It is. said that another man measu up part of the Chagres river as a $ tion of his excavation contract and money for it.
 do not know as to the truth of tn stories. l only know that it is ore well established that the first Frel company spent something. like s265. .Ooo within space of 10 years, and that second company spent s5,000.0O0 or $10.o coo more. Altogether the French SD within S10o.000,000 of what it will have ( us when our canal is completed.
 The total amount spent by Uncle s will be under S375,000,0 600, and in this figured the $40,000, 600 paid to the Frer For that we got in round numbers ab S27 ,000000 worth of usable excavation, O 5000, GOO worth of Panama railway st and $20OO000 worth of maps, drawi and records. We got $2,000O00 worth good buildings, $1000, 900 worth of lar $2, ,000,O00 worth of material and in neighborhood of $43,000,000. It was square deal, and, all told, was one of best of the many made by our great UT Sam. FRANK G. CARPENTER
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12

walls were bins of nails and screws and car loads of tool handles. There hogs heads upon hogsheads of zinc tac6s to put on the galvanized roofing, and our expert in charge at that time estimated that the value of supplies in that house was at least quarter of a million dollars.
 At another place I was shown piles Of copper plates, each as big as the top Of Q library table, and tons of copper bars for the repair of the machinery There were great bales of brass and steel wire and tons of zinc and lead.
 One Hundred and Thirty Warehouses
 When we took hold of the work we found here 130 storehouses and ware houses full of supplies, and also fl parks which contained machinery too heavy to house under cover The contents of the buildings and parks were so great that one of the engineers estimated that if all the machines .and stuff could be leyeled down they would have been enough to cover to the height of your waist a 5o0- acre farm. I went through these parks. They were covered with structural ma terial. Hero steel rails were laid up like cord wood. and there sheets of zinc and plates of iron were piled one upon an- other.
 I At Empire and Colon I saw great ma Iiililc SipDSf duQ tll lhV bdliNAifea covered about 15 acres. Some of the French shops were found in the jungle, but the brush and trees were cleared away and the old machinery used. This was so at Bas Matachin. where was un- earthed a machine shop which had en- tirely disappeared. It was found to cover about dozen acres. and to contain a complete equipment of machine tools. It took about three weeks for our gangs of men to cut down the jungle, and within week or so later the old French ma chinery was making general repairs of all kinds on the excavators and drills, and on the rolling stock of the trains.
 French Extravaganza and Graft
 Nevertheless. with all their care as to accounts and the sprinkling of the ma chinery with oil, the graft of the French can be everywhere seen. Everything was done by contract. and the grafters sent their stuff in by the ton. In many cases the supplies were furnished at so much
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12

cies for a report on the millionaire pro-
 moter. The answer was favorable. That should have satisfied her-but it didn't. She learned that the man had country
 home in Connecticut One day when she
 needed a bit of recreation she went to Connecticut in her automobile, visited the nearest town to the gentleman's country
 place and in an unassuming way made inquiries of the local tradesmen regard ing the gentleman's general reputation. That man who was going to build 12- story structure in the White Light dis
 trict owed S7.5O for more than year to the butcher. He owed various amounts to other persons in that neRhborhood.
 Miss Durlxin rode back to New York.
 She didn't take the contract, although she had assurances that she could have it if her bid was a reasonable one, and the friend who was so anxious to aid her was pretty angry because of her seeming perverseness. The builder who did take the contract was bankrupt-within q year, for the promoter failed to meet his obli-
 gations.
 Miss Durlxin says she did not act feom intuition in this natter 1t simply was q
 case of thorough scrutiny. She may
 have had an impression that the pro-
 moter was not the safest or soundest h. dividual on earth. Women are given to tiIipitSSlO1lS, put MISS bchcNSo Ai having absolute evidence before she comes to a conclusion. She wanted to know ab- solutely that that man was sound imam cially before she would risk her time or her money on his projects.
 She never lets bid go out from her of- flee unless it has been figured out to her full satisfaction She insists upon ahso- iute personal supervision of everythins. She apportions her time to the best ad- vantage Usually her office is crowded when she arrives in the morning. She
 has lot of visitors during the day, too.
 She makes it practice of visiting every tob at least three times a week. If she possibly can do so she will go to each
 job once a day. On the days she intends to inspect the structures she is building her automobile is brought over to the city. When she is outside of the city she
 drives the automobile herself, but in town she will not take that risk and pre- fers having a chauffeur to handle the
 big machine. Garbed ii. aer fashionable attire she leaves the office and is whirled away in her car.
 A building in course of construction is not the fullest affair on earth. but Miss
 Durkin does not soil her clothes. When
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12
Grave Diggers on a Strike

From the New York Evening Sun.
 The grave diggers of Glasgow are ou' and injured, 30 of them. They complaif of long hours, poor pay and work re- quired on the Lords day. So they have gone on strike, though they have nc union. Their spokesman declares: ri we are forced to break the Sabbatt day by buryins bodies we must be paid extra for it. It takes a practiced hand to dig comfortable grave. They're bringing in blacklegs tstrke breakers) but I wouldn't be found dead in the kind of q grave they dig
 The first paragraph shows the strength of the Scottish character in its devotion to the duty of every religious man. Tht second remark shows the proper pride of the artist in his work. The third as sertion has a whiff of JIibernia, yet no body can cisprove it. They who bulk stronger than a mason. a shipwrlght ol a carpenter," can also argue well, fol their trade is older than the lawyers.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12

knows no greater joy than her prese work. Some days she puts in 12 or hours at it. In winter she has one reer ation. On Saturdays she always go to matinee. In summer, on Saturday afte noon, she goes speeding over the cou try roads in that 60-horse power autom bile of hers-and she makes it whiz, f she runs it herself.
 QopyrIght. 1912. by Richard Spillane.,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12

Copyright, 1912. by Frank C. Carpenter.l
 Ancon, Canal Zone, Panama. No you want relic of the French
 machinery at Panama? Uncle Sam A-$ is now closing out the last batch He has sold if for over S2Oo.0oo to a Chicago wreclxing company, and that firm is now digging it out of the jungle and carrying 1t by the Panama railroad down to Cristobal It is piled there on a mighty dump and is being broken up and class flied. The bolts and nuts are put in one place, the wheels in another, and other, bits of machinery of variuos kinds each have their pile. The dealers recognize about three hundred different classifcations of iron and steel, and every class is found in the scrap pile. The ma chinery is first taken apart by cutting off the rivets with sledges, and much of tho metal is broken into three-foot lengths for convenience in melting. The stuff will be taken to the United States The liner pieces will probably be sold by catalogue and the remainder of the steel will go to the foundries to be worked over again.
 This last sale makes the total weight of  tho scrap disposed of between fifty and sixty million pounds, and the value of that sold and used in the work has footed up more than two million dollars. The sales have all been made by auction, and at so much per ton. For this last lot the ton rate was $S, and included in the ma terial were old locomotives, dredges, ex- cavators, dump cars, boilers, cranes, steel halls, copper and brass. The canal au- thorities estimate that at least one mill lion dollars worth Of such scrap has
 used in making machinery for our lrs.
 Ha# Twenty-seven Millions Rusted
 Away
 len we bought the canal of the
 ach for forty million dollars, they
 us an estimate as to the balance of
 machinery and supplies on hand.
 balance was not paid for, but was
 n in for good measure. I was down A just after we took possession, and
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-11-29

An indictment returned bya specia
grand jury at Springfield, O., charge:
DR.. Author B. Smith, prominent ply
sician, with poisoning his wife.
John Schrank, who shot Col. Theodore
Roosevelt on the night of October IA,
was declared insane and committed to
an insane hospital
The American Federation of Labor
voted to ask affiliated unions to raise
money for the defense of alleged dyna-
miters on trial at indianapolis.
Presdent-elect Wilson became angry
and threatened to thrash photographer
who insisted OH taking snapshot of
him.
William M. Fink, an American, is
held for So, 900 ransom by the Mexican
rebel bands that captured Santa Eulalie
Wednesday.
The hearings in the Governments
custer suit against the United States
Steel Corporation at Washington have
ended.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-11-29
FRAIL, SICKLY CHILD
Restored to Health by Who'll
Letter to Mothers.


Anxious mothers often wonder why
their children are so pale, thin and
nervous and have so little appetite.
For the benefit of such mothers in
this vicinity We publish the following
letter.
]. Edmund Miller, New Haven,
Conn, says: "My little daughter, ever
since her birth, had been frail and
sickly, and was a constant source OF
worriment Several months ago we
commenced to give her Vinol. l i'm
mediately noted an Improvement in
her health and appearance. gave
her three bottles of Vinol, and from
the good it has done her / can truly
say it will do all you claim"
This child's recovery was due to
the combined action of the medicinal
elements extracted from Gods livers,
combined with the blood-making
and strengthening properties Of
tonic iron. which are contained in
Vinol.
Vinol will build up and strengthen
delicate children, old people and the
weak. rundown and debilitated. We
return the money in every case where
it fails.
divers Red Cross Drug Store, Union
City, Tenn. adv
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-11-29
Ordinary Talk.

A merchant may be excused for sell
ing customer an ordinary dining table
under ordinary circumstances-perhaps.
But customer with red blood wants his
dining table to be the best-the season
really calls for the extraordinary quail
ity, and that quality the Home Furni-
ture Co. have Phone SO. adyt
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-11-29
The Methodist Church.

Sunday School, $40 m. Preaching
II a. m. and 1880 p. m. This will be
the first preaching service for the new
conference year. The pastor most cor
daily invites and earnestly requests the
and friends to be present.
w. w. ADAMS.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-11-29
Alumni Association.

A meeting of the Alumni Association
of the Union City High School has
been called for Wednesday, December
4, at 2:30 p. m. at the High School
building. The purpose of this meeting
is to complete arrangements for the an
nual banquet and full attendandance
is desired.
CASSIE HAMILTON, Pres.
w. nj. JONES, Sec.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-11-29
Notice.

All parties indebted to us will be ex-
pected to pay their obligations by De-
cember %. Your prompt attention,
please.
37-3t J. A. CoBLE 4 Son.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-11-29
NEWS NOTES.

Judge Cochran, Of the United Staste
Court, at Frankfort, modified the tenn
porary restraining order granted the
railroads in the franchise tax suits to
the extent that the State Auditor may
certify to the county clerks partial
assessment equal to that of 1911 assess
| ment
Both Democrats and Republican
members of Congress yesterday de-
clared they are of the opinion that
former Presidents of the United States
should not accept the $25, 900 annual
pension offered by Andrew Carnegie.
Ortie E. McManigal, in the 'dyna-
mite conspiracy" trial at Indianapolis,
described jobs leading up to his arrest
in Detroit in 1911. Joseph Schwartz
was confined in Jail for attempting to
intimidate witness.
Political campaign documents trans
mitted free through the mails, accord
ing to postoffice department srecords,
accounted for the difference between
postal surplus and deficit.
The signing of a wage agreement be-
tween officials of the National Bitumi-
nous Coal & Coax Company and union
miners forecasts the end of the great
strike in the Kanawha fields.
Sidna Allen, leader of the clan which |
slew five persons in the Hillsville, Va,
courthouse, was found guilty of man
slaughter and his punishment fixed at
fifteen years Imprisonment.
Charger, President McKinley's ia
,orite saddle horse, became entangled
n wire fence at Nav Philadelphia, /
D., and strangled to death. -
Three subsidiary lines o. v
FORK Central were
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-11-29
Worlds Greatest Catarrh Remedy.

Just breathe Booths HYOMEI for
five minutes and the penetrating anti
septic air from the Eucalyptus forests
of Australia will soothe the sore Ca
tarrhal membrane and give wonderful
relief
Being such an efficient remedy; abso-
lutely free from harmful drugs, divers
Red Cross Drug Store is willing at the
request to guarantee HYOMEI
for Catarrh, Group. Catarrhal Deafness,
Coughs, Colds, Sore Throat and Bron-
,hitis or money back. The little book
n each package tells how simple it is to
get rid of all these distressing diseases.
Complete HYOMEI out6Arir
pocket mailer, 81 .
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-15
VANDERBILT ANNOUNCES
1912 GRIDIR0N SCHEDULE

NASHVILLE. TENN. Aug. 15.-Fol.
lowing is the complete schedule for
1912, consisting of ten games. as an
nounced by Charles c. Trabue, chair.
man of the games committee of the
Vanderbilt football team:
September 2S-Bethel college at Nash
vile.
October 5-Maryville at Nashville
october l9-University of Georgia at
Atlanta.
October 26-University of Mississippi
at Nashville.
November 2-University of Virginia
al Nashville
Mass,
November 16-Central of Kentucky at
Nashville.
November 23-Auburn at Birmingham.
November Observance at Nashville.
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-15
SKETCH OF BILL SMITH

Bill Smith Alna 1913 OF the
He he had to
it b
lie thinks Atlanta il h here
o
a fee
of his but
to spon ito him business
Bill constantly crucial
1seie oferto divide
ne tina of
in he world he hr
he is losing
IS nd non benches
and down them during
taco
is ted
man OF he has for advice
his mains il Atlanta
n se zen finished second
n scm
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-15
KID ELBERFELD AND
OTTO JORDAN RACE
FORLOOKOUT CHIEF

CHATTANOOGA, TENN, Aug. 10
viii Otto Jordan go back to Atlanta
with Bill Smith or will he stay here as
manager Of the local club? one or the
other of those things is pretty certain
to happen.
Jordan and Kid Elberfeld are run
ming neck and neck now in the race
for the local management. 1t is virtu-
ally certain that if Elberfeld wins he
Will let Jordan out. He wouldn't care
to have a perpetual candidate for his
job on the team. And if Jordan goes.
ii is equally certain that Bill Smith
will try TO take him to Atlanta.
President Andrews will probably de-
eide the matter of a manager for next
year pretty shortly. Now that Bill
Smith has definitely passed up the lob
the matter Is considerably simplified.