davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03

iron The iron is galvanized and the most of it now comes from Japan.
 In Agana the public buildings face the plaza the governors palace faces north, and the college the officers quarters and the cathedral the remaining sides. The stores are on the streets. There are live or six In the town, one of which is an American trading concern which has come there for the purpose of acquiring land and dealing in eopra. In addition to this there are two Japanese stores, one native store and one Chinese store. The Ameri- can and Japanese concerns have small sailing vessels which make regular Vo1- ages to bring in cargoes of merchandise and take out eopra or dried cocoanut meat
 Since we took possession of Agana we have given it a good water supply. We have put in about a half mile of six inch sewer pipe for the use of the naval sta- tion and the city. In the past the water came from wells six or more feet deep which were practically fed from the sur face and were often full of sewage The government has made dam of the river that runs through the town and the city water now comes from a reservoir
 Cleanliness Enforced
 Our officials have passed laws that every man must keep his yard and house clean, and inspectors are sent around every week to see that he does so. If he
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03

manufacture his own wire. He would have closed the deal, too. but for the fact that he broke one of his arms and one of his
 legs just then, and was so incapacitated | he was afraid he could not give personal attention to that work.
 l The Carbon Steel company took the con | trate for the wire. but Ryan could not get any concern in the country to supply the
 cable bands. He never had been a ma ohini5t but he rigged up a plant on l Crotch Island, off the coast of Maine,
 where he was quarrying stone, and on that barren spot he made the cable bands | successfully.
 The steel combination never knew until it was too late that all Ryan's talk about that deal with the Belgium mills was l bluff What he would have done If the l bluff had not worked is 8 question. but what he did when the bluff did work is a matter of record. He beat all records in the construction of great bridges. Hard | ly were the foundations ready than the steel for the piers was there to be set. Ryan is a good organizer He established
 a storage place at Bayonno for all the l material for the bridge, and there never was delay after the work really began.
 The estimated time for the building of | the structure was seven years, but the
 policeman from Youngstown built it in 1 23 months, and when he nn1Sned he got a
 testimonial from the city such as no other | bridge builder of recent days has received. | In addition 10 the bridge proper, he got | the contract for the building of the ap-
 breaches. This added $2, l69,0 000 to the price
 for the work and brought Ryan's total
 pay up to $S 662. .00O
 | For a man who started his business career as teamster, who has ripped | Manhattan wide open, who has been han
 ding thousands of men and millions Of dollars, Mr. Ryan has one record that
 probably is unique. He never took whisky
 but once. That was the day he broke his arm and his leg. He probably would not
 have taken it then but for the insistence of the doctors He did not like the taste of the stuff, and it would take regiment of doctors to make him take another
 drink. But he is by no means a model
 man. Every old timer of the race tracks | knows him. Twenty years ago he was a
 big figure on the turf. He had q stable of thoroughbreds that was worth eonsd 1 ering He was very partial to the get of | Fremont, the black Whirlwind that added so much to tho fame of Mike Dwyer. Tringle was one of the stars of Ryan's stable. The Youngstown man raced under | the name of Mir. Manning. Johnny Camp | bell trained for him for a time, and so did Sam Hldreth. the same Sam IIldreth who of recent years not only has been the leading trainer. but the leading owner. of the American turf.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03

ability, and he had assurance of any financial support required. Tn addition 10 the influential connections he had made in his business he had met a gentleman who had an idea that he was on intimate terms with the Guggenheims, Charles NJ Schwab, J. Pierpont Morgan and numer- ous other financial giants. The gentleman said he was related to one of the most powerful forces in Tammany Hall Through MT. Schwab and other steel magnates he could buy steel-less the com mission. This would be a great saving on the thousands and thousands of tons that would go into the construction of the Manhattan bridge. Through Mir. Morgan and through his Tammany relatives he could arrange for all the bonds necessary and could get these bonds al a figure no other man could approach. Only contrac- tors know how burdensome these bonds are. One little illustration will serve, per- haps, to enlighten the public.
 There Is a contractor building a dam at Kensico. The bond on his work Is $40, ,o00 year. Before he gets through he will have paid $4G0,0oO to the surety company that furnished the bond.
 MT. Ryan was not very long in dlscov- ering that the people who told him to back out or he would have serious trouble knew what they were talking about He had his first trouble over his bond Effort was made to upset the contract because
 he did not have surety companies as hls Iguarantors. There was a good reason why he did not have them. None of them would go on his bond foF love or money. The gentleman who had such intimate re- lations with the Guggenhems, Sehwab, Pierpont Morgan and others including the Tammany officials, proved a broken reed in this emergency. Ryan would have been in a mess at this time had it not been for his lawyer, who dug up seeuri- ties valued at $3,O0000o and turned them over to two men he engaged to qualify as bondsmen. Soon however. the opposi- ton saw that these bondsmen were only dummies and the attack was renewed. By this time. however, Ryan was better pre- pared In cash and city bonds $550,000 was deposited with the controller and two bondsmen of ample wealth qualified for the remainder of the bond. With the matter of surety strengthened out Ryan's path seemed clear. But the fight was only beginning.
 First propositions were made to him to resign his contraction considerations He declined, although he could step out then and there with a profit of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Seeing that he was determined the opposition told him to proceed MT. Ryan tried to, but did not make much headway When he wrote to steel and bridge companies requesting them to give him figures on some of his
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03

All the bookmakers knew Ryan in those
 days. He would bet his money as high at
 anybody. There was one race down Al
 Sheepshead Bay where he stood to win
 S160.OO0 and he only lost through an acct
 dent to Daredevil Fitzpatrick. He raced
 at Gravesend, Sheepshead, at Brighton, al
 Guttenburg and at Clifton and he got fair share of the money at each of the
 tracks one day at Clifton he knew tha there was job on to beat out one of lia
 horses and he passed the word quietly to
 the judge so the deal could be stopped o
 the guilty one punished. The horse wal pulled nagranty. Nothing was done pj the judge.
 Ryan wasn't damaged particularly, foI he had not bet on his horse, but he was
 so incensed that he went to the judges
 stand and said a few unkind words to ths presiding official Then he left the track. A week later Mrs. Ryan asked him why Il was he had not been to the races. He told her that the next time she heard oi
 him going to race track she could gd down and buy all the dresses and all the
 iewelry and all the other trappings that her heart could fancy and he would be de. lighted to pay the bill.
 Are you much of a oser?" she asked. No" he answered. Strange as 1t may | seem, I am ahead of the racing game | But by the time I set foot on race track l again I'll have made a million dollars
 more than I have today and can well af.
 ford paying any bill you contract" The race track never has seen Ryan | from that day to this.
 | MT Ryan has been in the public eye
 good deal recently. The gentleman whd was the intimate friend of the Guggen- heims Charles M Schwab. J. Pierponi Morgan and numerous other great 1nan. ciers besides being related to Tammany Halls power behind the throne, has been suing for one-half the profits on the Man.
 hattan bridge contract
 It is a curious thing how man. when
 he succeeds in life. reveeis to the things of his youth. Tt was a little farm thai Ryan was raised on in the Kilkenny patch of Youngstown. Among other things ths
 Ryans had a COW. The Ryan farm et
 today is the magnificent Daniel Drew e,s.
 tate at Brwester. N. Y, which covers
 more than one square mile. Ryans herd of Ayrshire cattle is probably the finest
 in America, if not in the world But hs still is faithful to Youngstown. The din- ner that he gave in celebration of ths
 completion of the Manhattan bridge had a
 goodly delegation of Youngstown citizens, and hanging above his desk in the City in- vesting building there is a picture of z.
 II. Andrews, the Youngstown man whd
 gave to him his first boost on his first
 contract
 Copyright, 1912, by Richard splllane)
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03

n EH1ND every big undertaking there IN is a story, sometimes of tragedy - sometimes of humor, sometimes of ' romance, sometimes of all three. Few Of these stories ever become public They are locked in the minds of those who are a party to them. You wouldn't expect much of romance in a bridge, yet there is story and romance in each and every one of New York's bridges. The Brook lyn bridge, the first of the great suspen- sion structures to span the East river, IS famed the world over for it's beauty, yet how many persons know the story of Washington Roebling, it's builder. He contracted that fHghtful disease now known as the bends," while working in the. bridge caissons, and all the time there after he directed his men and watched the progress of the work from his bed in a building that overlooked the river. Never in all the years that bridge was building was he upon the structure, and it is said he never has crossed the bridge he built.
 There is a strange parallel between the case of Roebling and that of Patrick Ryan, the policeman who built the Man
 
 leg and was laid up for a time while his - bridge was building. From start to finish Ryan watched the progress of work on the structure from an office way up near the top of the mammoth Park Row build ing. With powerful glasses held to his Yeyes he swept the structure from end 10 end, and as one piece of steel after an- other was put into place he recorded the fact on chart he kept by his side. He has crossed the bridge once, and only - once, and that after it was completed and turned over to the city.
 Ryan is queer genius He was born in Buffalo in 1853, but it's Youngstown, O., that claims him. He went to Youngstown when he was only year old, and he grew up in the classic section of that city that is known locally as Kilkenny. His father had a bit of farm, but his largest crop was children. He had nine daughters and this one son. Patrick. The boy had to do his share toward supporting the family He was only about Is when he started as a teamster hauling coal and pig iron for the furnaces about Youngstown. He was lad of tremendous strength: he could load and unload in half the time of the ordinary teamster, and usually he drew bigger loads than tine other men. He wasn't afraid of work, and he always wanted to do just as much of it as he
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03

from Honolulu and right on the line from the Panama canal to the Philippines. It is a mountainous island and is the top of an almost submerged volcano in one Of the great earthquake lines and volcanic lines of the world. We have had an earth quake there since we took possession. It occurred in 1902, when Commander Shroe- der was governor. In writing about it 10 the Secretary of the Navy he says that the earth opened mp here and there, the whole island trembled, buildings rocked and swayed and the bells everywhere were rung by the vibration.
 'HThe walls of the governors palace were marred the barracks where the marines were quartered cracked open and the ice plant was almost thrown down. All the public buildings suffered severely. The hospital became d skeleton, many of the bridges were destroyed and a large num- ber of the masonry houses thrown down." On account of that earthquake the schools had to be stopped and all public work was for time suspended. This was only one of many earthquakes that the island has had and no one knows when another may come.
 As to volcanoes proper the island has none. It's highest peak Mount Iumullong Manglo, is less than 1900 feet high and the greater part of the island is a plateau from POO to 5G) fec. above tine sea The whole place is so small that the scenery cannot have great variety The island is only 20 miles long and on the average about six miles in width. Tt is shaped fix, the sole of a shoe, and on the west side of the sole. on the bend Of the instep, lies the chief port. known as Agans, on Agana bay This is the capital of the is- land. and it Is there that our naval gov crnor lives.
 A Lool1 at Agana
 It is often said that Paris is France. Tn the same sense Agana is Guam. II is the seat of society. politics and trade. 1t has all the public buildings and about three fourths of the people. The population k over 7CO0 and this in an island of le,Oo1 IS great many Al Asana are the chief public buildings. The most imposing structure are the governors palace, the College of San Juan de Letram, tho courts and the barracks.
 The town Is laid out about q plaza or open place about the size of city square The streets are all named. and all the stone houses are numbered Since we took possession many stone buildings with iron roofs have been constructed There are also stone houses with roofs of red tiles. but the majority of the peo- pie live in houses made of bamboo poles covered with palm leaves and matched with grasses or palms.
 outside 6f Arana there arc villages but they are nearly all made of bamboo aobut one house in 15 has roof of tile OF
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03

dentally he has built some structures of considerable size. He built Riverside Drive from One Hundred and Thirty-fifth street to One Hundred and Forty-fifth street. The great Riverside power house of the Edison company was put up by him. So was the main power house of the Interborough Rapid Transit company. Sc were the foundations for the Queensboro bridge and the Williamsburg bridge. Tn fact the biggest masonry and concrete work anywhere in this part of the coun- try came within his range.
 All this was ordinary and commonplace, and MT. Ryan would have passed along as a successful contractor and nothing more if it had not been for the spirit of ad- venture that came to him with his Irish blood. It was while he was under con- tract to build the foundations for the Williamsburg bridge that the adventure that brought him to his present promi- hence started. There had been some delay in his work and Ryan got restless. He does not like idleness. He has the samc energy today that he had when he was teaming out in Ohio. If he cannot keep busy on one job he will hunt up another
 Just then the city of New York was in something of a mess over a mighty bridge that was to be built. The bridge was tc be known as the Manhattan, and was tc be the greatest or all the structures indl span the East river. It was 10 have more than twice the capacity of the Brooklyn bridge. The Pennsylvania Steel company had the contract for it at very handsome figure, but some enterprisng citizen whc thought there was a look of jobbery tc the affair. brought action to upset the award. The court sustained him, holding that the terms under which the specified tions were drawn were unlawful. as they prevented competition. New specifications had to be prepared and new bids request ed MT Ryan made up his mind not only to bid but to build that bridge.
 The Pennsylvania company's second bid was $S00.O00 less than its first bid. But Ryan's bid was $i03,000 lower than the Pennsylvania's.
 Mir Ryan did not realize at the time that he had committed a criminal offense in the eyes of some of the gentlemen who are great in the steel industry. Tine bridge people had 1t all nicely arranged among themselves how the work on the Manhattan bridge was to be distributed how much this company was to have and how much that It was against all the rules of decency that common, ordinary contractor should butt in" and spoil the game, especially as many millions of dol lars were involved. MT. Ryan was in- formed quietly that it would be good for him to back out while the backing was good. but he was not that kind. Instead he laughed at those who approached him. He did not have any doubt of his own
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03

work he got no response to the letters. He wrote again and the result was the same. Then he wrote to other steel and bridge companies. Again there was no response. He wrote to nearly every steel concern of consequence in America and was is- nored Then MT. Ryan realized what he was contendng against. Every steel and bridge company in the United States had closed its doors on him. The steel combi- nation and all its friends had determined to ruin him, and through running him to warn every other contractor from invad- ing sacred territory.
 Ryan had done work for some very big men-heads of big corporations He went to them, explained the situation and asked their aid. They tried to use their good offices in his behalf They were politely but distinctly told to keep out. There were some millionaires out in the Youngs- town country. Mir. Ryan sought their aid toward opening the steel market to him. They did their best in his behalf, but aIl their efforts were vain.
 With a $6, ,493, GOO contract on his hand and a S30C0, 900 bond up MT. Ryan was having a real pleasant time. Being Irish, how ever, and having graduated with full hon ors from the Kilkenny patch of Younss- town, he had no thought of surrender. Una Die 10 'SWaI HIS entHleS WlLh any weapon he could discover in these United States he sought one abroad. Just when the steel combination here thought he was helpless he laughed at them, and then told them why he laughed. He said that at the first intimation of what he was up against he had sent to Belgium and had obtained figures from the steel manufac- turers there that would enable him to land his material here in New York at a price lower than the steel combination would quote under ordinary conditonst
 He hated, he told the steel people, to spend so much good money on the for eigners, but tho rapaciousness and ras- eality of the American steel men had forced him to act as he had, and they would lose the whole thing. Besides it would teach very useful lesson to them.
 This information was most unpleasant and salutary. A little while after Mr. Ryan made the announcement the Phenix company of Philadelphia took the contract for the towers and the trusses of the sus- pension structure. This did not settle the matter by any means. Fully as impor- tant as the structural steel itself was the making of the wire to go into the cables. There are nearly 5000 strands of wire in each cable Mir. Ryan negotiated with one of the foremost wire making concerns, but the price quoted was prohibitlve and the tisne within which the company would supply the material was too long. He ne- gotiated with the New Haven Steel and Wire company to buy their plant and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03

could. He was not always looking at the clock or asking the time to ascertain how near. it was to the hour of quitting. What he did he, did heartily, honestly, with spirit. He was suclr@a good teamster that he attracted attention. When he was 20 years old there was a job of excavating to be awarded in Youngstown. The teamster bid on it. His bid was the lowest of any submitted. It was so low that the other bidders scoffed and declared if he got the contract he never could fulfill it; that his men never would be paid. There was a man in Youngstown who had so much confidence in the teamster that he stood sponsor for him. The man was c. II, An drews. The teamster got the contract He did that job in a way to surprise the natives. He completed 1t ahead of time, and as an answer to those who said his men would not be paid he made every day a pay day while the work was under way, and he made some money for himself be- sides.
 After that Ryan went on the police force. Youngstown has not a very big police establishment-1O or 12 men compris ing the whole organization. Ryan was a member of the force six years. He start ed as a patrolman and wound up as chief Incidentally he carried on his business as a contractor while he still was a police man.
 Youngstown was not big enough to hold him and he sought new fields. He got the contract for building a railroad from New Castle to Akron. O., and made quite lot of money out of it. There was one pe- eular happening in connection with this l undertaking. Ryan and his men were tt work near Kent, O., on the day that Pres ident Garfield died. The railroad track was to follow the course of the tow path of the Cuyahoga In clearing away some stuff they came upon rock up which was carved:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-03

Copyright, 1912, by Frank G. carpenter.) Washington. D. c. "HE big hand of Uncle Sam. patri- arch, grasps the world. It reaches -i \ from the Atlantic, where Porto Rico lies under the thumb. to the farawav western Pacific, where the longest fingers rest on the Philippines and the tip of the little finger nail scratches the Island Of Guam..
 Our Smallest Possession
 Of all our new colonies Guam is the smallest. It is hardly a patch of court ' plaster on the face of the Pacific and it's native population is less than 12.Oo0 ~ Nevertheless it lies right on the line from the Panama canal to the Philippines and East Asia. and it may some day form a coaIing station and naval base for us in the wars of. the future. We got the is- land as one of the by-products of our war with Spain We have had it for more than F years, and 1t is now time to take account of stock and sec what we have done. The island has been under the con- trol of the Secretary of the Navy and a naval officer. backed by a corps of ma rines. has been it's reorganizer., .,command- CT and governor. Since we took posses .sion there have been half dozen differ ent men on the job and out of their work has come the Guam of today.
 What have they done?
 They have taken one of the most back ward little islands of the Pacific and made it one of the best They have given it justice and good government and have made themselves liked by the people They have cleaned up the country, have built good roads everywhere through 1t, and have practically eliminated epidemic anl contagious diseases. They have started the people to thinking and have mace every man and every woman learn to write his or her name. They have estab- lished schools and hospitals Thcy have wiped out the vagrants, and have given the little country a period of prosperity. All this in a nutshell. Now as to partic- ulars.
 The Island of Guam
 But where is Guam? You remember how .,. Judge Ridley Of Virginia, when appointed -., consul to Zanzibar came back to Was;i- ington after six months absence and said he had been cruising the oceans. but for the life of him he couldn't find the alarmed tplace. I knew Judge Riley. He was a /bird.
 We'll. Guam is now almost as well known as Zanzibar. <The only way to get to it, is by the United States transports which ply between San Francisco and Ma nila, calling there on the wa. The island h 13o0 miles south of Japan. i59l miles est from Manila. Ettie over ;000 miles