davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15
2 Aseo8 o8zSe Zpzgooe

thing that would divert the public at tention would benefit them So long as Nesbit was away everybody was safe The troublesome district at torney couldn't question him. There was no way to force Nesbt to come back and submit to an examination, and however much the public might suspect, there was no proof.
 This looked reasonable enough to Neshit, and he prepared to be patient , in Chicago for week or two Mean while the had retained one of the best lawyers in his home town to watch after his interests and each day brought him reports from his office and letters from his political associates as to how things were progressing.
 T. The theory of the mayor and others that the whole affair would blow over was perfectly reasonable, but it didn't prove correct. The ambition of that district attorney led him to do things sef-respecting party man shouldn't do. He dug into Nesbit's bank account, swooped down on his office and seized a lot of his papers. Next he had en expert open the contractors safe, and then in a few days he had enough evidence to keep the grand jury busy for three months and enough indictments under way to keep the courts busy a long time.
 Somebody has to be the goat when a scandal of this sort breaks in a city; so Nesbit was selected. He had fled to save the others. so the others promptly did all they could to discredit him or to min mize their own participation in whatever was wrong. It was made as plain as day that Nesbit was the big grafter the one who sought to corrupt the servants of the public He had made politics a business The men elected to office could only be nominated by grace of his ap- proval, and. once in office, they had to do his bidding. few crumbs fell their way, but he, like all grasping creatures, kept the lions share for himself. He was a bad man.
 Nesbitt, in his Chicago hotel read the public and private reports from home with bitterness and contempt. He had no ob- jection to taking his own medicine but he had little relish for that which should have gone to others. The scandal wasn' { the only thing to embarrass him. The ex- posture had led to the abrogation of the water works contract aAd the stoppage of two or three other undertakings. He had large plant, and, although he had dismissed all his common labor, he had a lot of overhead charges. Expenses began piling mp on him in most astonishing way. The lawyers seemed to think he was prime picking. They demanded big fees and wanted money in advance, He was in a tight box. and had to submit , to their eXtortions. Within six weens he was bit pressed for ready money. He had one of his lawyers approach a banker ! for loan.
 | The banker. although he had sought Nesbt's favor many times before. wanted no dealings with him now. Other bankers were the same As his obligations were pressing Nesbt had to sacrifice some se- curties. They went for about half what they were worth, and the day they were sold Nesbit was excoriated in a political speech as the master grafter who had fled from the city loaded down with plunder.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15
Buy Opera Production

From the New York Herald.
 After the first act of sThe Merry Count ess'' at the Casino theatre Tuesday night
 Cornelius Vanderbilt offered 5000 to the Shuberts for the entire production for
 one night. After the second act the man. agers accepted the offer. and on Friday night the Casino will be dark. while tho
 guests at MT. and Mrs. Vandeblt's hall
 at Newport will have special train both
 ways at MT. vanderbilt's expense. and will return to New York in time for the matinee and evening performances on Saturday.
 Hardly had the applause at the close of the first act subsided when
 MT and Mrs Vanderbilt rushed to the
 back of the house and made their offer of 5000 for the entire production for one right. The Shuberts asked for few minutes to consider whether they could
 make the necessary arrangements and Mir and Mrs Vanderbilt returned to wit ress the second act. At it's close the
 matter was still unsettled but they re- newcd their offer, and augmented it by saving they would provide a special train. | The arrangements was then formally
 agreed upon.
 | The stamp of approval which this spe- cial contract puts on "The Merry Count
 ess'' is believed to be without parallel. | and the Shuherts for the first time will
 actually omit q night performance and | interrupt a run to make a presentation 1 elsewhere.
 ! This ball will be the first really large l entertainment which the Vanderbilts have | giren for two or three years. It is to
 tate place at the Vanderbilt estate, Beau | lieu. and will be one of the leading so- 1 ciety events of the Newport season. Ii ! fas been known for some time that a
 nvnfer of snc'ety girls were to do a | Dance Of the Seasons at the ball. but the
 ongavemert of a1 entire company of tho ! size ef 1.-The Nerrv Corntcss" organiza-
 ton for complete performance is so-
 ciety novelty and society sensation with-
 out precedent
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15

dreds of flowers and trees the names of which we have never heard and which few Americans have ever seen
 The first part of the journey is through palm trees, Further on we find tropical giants of other arborea varieties with trunks as big around as flour barrel and 100 or 200 feet high. The limbs of some are covered with vines and their trunks are wrapped around with long liamas or vegetable ropes which extend to the ground and root themselves in the earth. In places these liamas have vines con nected with them and the trunks of the trees seem to be draped in cloaks or mantles with great hobble skirts of bright green
 l wish I could picture the orchids. They cover the dead branches and hang from the live ones. They are of several hun dred varieties and now and then We see one in flower. There are other air plants of every description. and, in short, such dense mass of strange luxuriant and beautiful vegetation. including flowers trees and vines, that the eye alone can comprehend it's great beauty. It is i'm possible for the pen to describe it.
 The Andes of Costa Rica
 The splendor of the mountains corre- spends with the vegetation. I have trav- eled along the Andes from Panama to the Straits of Magellan. The slopes of the west coast from Ecuador to Valparaiso are ragged and rocky, and as bare as the most arid parts of the Sierra Nevadas. They are bordered by the great desert which. beginning at the south end of Ecuador, skirts the western coast of the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15

1 He'd had to sacrifice other possessions, for the Investigation dragged on all through 1 the fall and winter.
 | To add to his troubles several
 notes upon which he had been indorser went to protest and he had to take 1 them up. He was in a queer position
 for man supposed to have million
 or more. To relieve his embarrass-
 ment he endeavored to dispose of his
 holdings in the baseball club. He owned 5l per cent of stock in the team known the country over as the
 Leopards.. It was d pretty fair team, but it lacked snay, {and usually tin- ished in the second division not far
 from the cellar. Nesbit had taken hold of it through love of his town. He had boosted the club along. spent
 money lavishly for new players and
 had been content. One or two years the club had made small profit. but generally it ran behind Fe wtail-end teams are gold mines When he tried to dispose of his holdings at a reason
 able figure he was shocked to receive
 an offer of 30 cents on the dollar. He expected so or 90. Making a virtue of
 necessity, he decided to accept 50, and so notified the lawyer through whom
 he did the negotiating.
 Before the deal could be closed the offer of 50 cents on the dollar was wihdrawn
 and Nesbit near the end of his financial rope. an exile from home. in disgrace and without business, had a pretty bleak outlook He didn't like Chicago. He never did. It was particularly unpleasant t. have to live there when all his interests, all his inclinations, were in the hom town. He stayed there all winter and stuck 1t out somehow, but when spring
 rolled around he was glad to get away and join the Leopards in their spring 1 practice. There was a lot of gossip in | the home papers over his presence with
 the ballplayers, Nobody knew the real ! reason. No one knew how homesick the 1 paper millionaire had becoine.
 Nesbt had taken sentimental intere 5t
 in baseball before his troubles. but now he took deeper and more earnest one.
 He didn't know baseball in all its .intri-
 eacies, but he knew human nature. ard
 he could begin to see some of the weak nesses in the organization.
 | Spring training with baseball players
 isn't the liveiest of work nut Nesbit en- | ioyed It. He wanted to stffen mp that
 team if it was possible. and he held lons | conferences with the manager to tnat end. 1 It is a difficult problem at any time ;o | pick up stars It's particularly difticil,
 when a club is short of money. Only Ly
 submitting to an extortonate rate of ia-
 terest' was Nesbit able to se; enour, i money together to mee he financial needs | of he Leopards for the first few months | of the season.
 1 Whatever hopes he had of the team
 from it's spring practice went glimmerins 1 with the opening of the season. The Leop- i ards were slaughtered in the first game l they played and weren't returned winners
 until they had been beaten .sey times | In the last month they only won six
 games.
 Like all the other teams, the Leopards
 had scouts out combing the country
 over for promising players. They found ] lots of them and sent them along. but
 tha trouble with these uqayers was that
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15
.....................................

office some years. were bounced and A. new crowd ushered in. The district attorney no longer had any desire to see MT. Nesbit and the indictment some how got lost or misiaid and never has been found from that day to this.
 Some suggestion was made to MT. Nesbit a few months after his return that gentlemen in the city hall would be glad to do business with him if he wanted any contracts, but Mr. Nesbit declined without expressing thanks for their offer No more politics for him. He does not make so much out of tho Beopards now as he did in those three great years, but he made enough then to make him independent for life. And he has young gold mine so long as Dobbs remains in the game, and that seems to be fair number of years. for he is as good today as he was the day he came to the Leopards the last and the only good pick of scout who was dismissed for being no good.
 Copyright, 1912, by Richard Spillane)
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15

up the mountains They are mostly shacks of one story with the roofs over hanging So as to cover porch in frofx and behind. Outside the porches the av- craze house is not more than F feet square, and the whole family lives in one room. In some places we see villages of such houses, and rising higher we find the comfortable little country homes of the coffee planters. The plantations de- voted to coffee are 2Ue0 or 30y0 feet above the sea. They increase as we near San Jose, and we finally pass through a coun- try where there is nothing but coffee The trees are shaded by bananas or plan tains. They are not more than 10 or 12 feet in lleight They are spindhng and the trunks at the base are about as big around as your wrist They have shining green leaves like those of the holly, and the red berries containing the beans are now ripe for the picking. The berries are joined close to the branches without stems which form the coffee of commerce. It is won derful how the coffee lands are utilized. The plantations climb the steepest hills and some are so precipitous that 1t would seem impossible to cultivate them except with rope ladders. Nevertheless, it pays, for the Costa Rican coffee ranks with the mocha of Arabia in the markets of Eu- rope and brings a higher price than any other.
 Where Fences Grow Into Trees
 There is one thing which shows the extraordinary fertility of the Costa Ri- can soil What would you think of set- ting a fence post and having 1t grow into a tree? That is what they do here The mountain farms are surrounded by hedges, most of which are growing stakes, driven in close together and in- terwoven with barbed wire As the stakes grow they shoot out long branches at the top. and these, in time are cut off and used for fuel. Indeed. there is wood lot surrounding every field and the cooking Is done with fuel supplied by the fences.
 As we get on the highlands we often have an extensive view of the plateau. and a crazy quilt of small farms isI spread out below us. There are fields cf green sugar cane, groves of oranges orchards of coffee and beds of plain tains or bananas. The buildings are so low that they are hardly visible among the trees, or at best only the red tiles of the roofs Some of the farms have cattle feeding upon them, and on others horses are pastured There are but few roads, and the people make their way to and from the stations on horseback or in OK carts, which is the common dray of the country The horses are small, but their gait is a single foot. and they are easy riders. Every trav- eler carries his saddle bag with him, and half the men at the stations haSf saddle bags on their shoulders.
 FRANK c. CARPENTER.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15

tCopyright 1912. by Frank c. Carpenter
 San Jose, Costa Rica. N ONE with me this morning for d
 trip through the Switzerland of N Central America We are in the mountains of Costa Rica, the upper end of the Andes, north of the range through which we are cutting our great ditch at Panama We are in a land made up of mountains It is 15O miles wide and over 200 miles long, and the most of it Is composed of these tropical highlands. some of which kiss the clouds al two miles and more above the Caribean sea. It Is a land of rugged volcanoes and of earthquakes which de- stroy cities. but nevertheless II is one of the most beautiful parts of the face of the old Mother Earth.
 At the Caribbean Gateway
 We enter Costa Rica at Port Limon Its gateway on the Atlantic. We have sailed north from Bocas del Toro. the last town of the Panamanian republic, and been landed at a wooden settlement of 5000 people, which annually ships to us at least one-tenth of all the bananas we eat. It exports every year over Ill., 100000 punches or about 1,500, ,000, ,01O bananas, enough to give one to almos [ every soul in the world. The town be- longs largely to the United Fruit com pany, which does an immense banana business here, but by no means tho whole. It has over 1000 workmen en- ployed on it's Costa Rican plantations, but there are probably one-half 9s many more on the outside estates.
 As our ship comes to anchor, we See at the wharves cars filled wlth bananas and watch an endless river of the green Fruit flowing on the long carrying belts into the holds of the steamers. There are two ships now loading. One belongs to The Hamburg American and another to the United Fruit company. The bananas from here are taken to New Orleans Mobile, New York and Boston. They go also to Manchester and Bristol in Eng land, and at last find their resting place III something like billion and half stomachs all over the world. We shall lind bananas for sale at the stations as We go up the railroad to San Jose ard will pay for them just about the same al at home. The banana is the poor man g fruit, and IL can be bought for from l tC cents q finger, for that is what the single fruit is called in any part of the union.
 Indeed, I do not know but that it may be even cheaper within few years from now. The plantations are growing, ard a rival company is being formed he,e to compete with our trust This Is the At lantic company, which, as l am tolc. has bought many of the outside planta tions and is about to make n ight fo. the trade. It is backed by some Hest Indian Jews in combination with the Hamburg American steamship line. which wants share in the freight. It has much 70
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15

miles in height, and from one of them lrazu, you can see the two oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, each being onls about 75 miles away. That volcanic pea |, can be reached from Cartago, which Is just 90 miles from Limon, and we may possibly ascend it before we leave Costa Rica. Its two craters are now quiet. but they are liable at any time to burst into action. This country has 19 volcanoes and some of them are perpetually smok- ing. The average height of the mour- tains, however, is only that of the tallest peaks of the Alleghenies, and they cau be cultivated almost to the tops.
 Down at Port Limon it is hot. It is SC tropical that the natives cannot labor on account of the climate and Jamaican ne- groes have been brought in to do the hard work. Higher up we shall find the people cream white. They are the de scendants of the Gallicans. a hardy and intelligent race from north Spain, whc are far superior to the descendants of the Spanish of other parts of Central Ameri- ca, and also to those of the South Amer ican continent They are an independent people, and the most of them are proper ty owners and liberty lovers. They dc not believe in revolutions. and for more than generation they have had eontin- uous peace This can be said of no other Central American state.
 The Republic in Nutshell
 But before take you on the trip up the mountains let me put this little land in a nutshell. You know where it lies. Con sidering Panama as the hinge which joins the North and South American conti-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15
Yet to Como

TV'fl JVfIEF. . Little Clarence faffer a season of pro. found coeitation}--"Paw-uh. MT. Callipers-"Well, my son?'' ] Little Clarence-"Paw. why don't wom-
 en wear mems whiskers on their hats3s
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15

do, however, before it can successfully compete with the United Fruit comnany It will require a new port and will have to build railroads to bring the bananas down to their ships. This banana busi- ness IS not a small proposition. The Unit cd Fruit company, which has done more than any other to give up cheap fruit. has many great interests here outside the ba- nanas, and 1t has farms and ranches where it raises the cattle horses and mules used on it's banana estates. The ranches are in the highlands, and upon them there are now 11.0o0 head of stock, incluing horses and mules raised from imported stalions and jackasses. There are also 20Oo cows, from whcn cone the butter used In the banana trust conmis- sary, and there are other farms for rais- ing vegetable ana various supplies. The business Is so expensive that all efforts are made to cut the cost 10 the lowest possible notch, and l should doubt mueh the ability of the Atlantic company to compete as to prices.
 Beautiful Costa Rica
 But let us come back to the beauty of this Costa Rican republic The banana plantations form but small part of 1t and they are confined to a strip of the low lands along the Caribbean sea. There are similar lowlands on the Pacific but the bulk of the country is made up of these mountains, which roll over one an other in all sorts of shapes. now in great gorges and again in little bellows or nests of comparatively smooth land which are covered with farms.
 Some of the mountains are over two
Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-11-12
CONDENSED DISPATCHES.

All hope of floating the liner Royal
George has been abandoned by her
owners, the Canadian Northern Rail-
road. Underwriters in London. who
insured the vessel, have been notified
that the Royal George is theirs to
make whatever they may of her.
Sixty members of the ninth recruit
company, u. S. a, stationed at Fort Io-
gan. Colorado. were placed under rigid
quarantine Monday, as a result of the
death from spinal meningitis, late Satur-
day, of Joel F. Hinshaw, who enlisted in
Denver three weeks ago. There are ap-
proximately 400 soldiers at the post.
Florence Milne. six years old. was
killed while at play on Washington
street, Barre, Vt, Monday, when an
automobile driven by III. b. Partridge
struck the child and knocked her down.
She died a few minutes later. Part
ridge was absolved from blame by
witnesses and the police took no ae.
ton.
Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-11-12
SPARKS FROM MAINE WIRES.

Adrift in the heavy seas three miles
off the Cape Elizabeth lightship with
the motor in their 1S-fuot launch out
ofe commission because the batteries
had played out" two men and one
woman We're rescued. Sunday. by Capt.
Grin Hannaford of Cape Elizabeth.
Captain Hannaford and his dory mate.
Rupert Hannaford, We're in the vicin-
ity of Alden's Rock hauling travis
when they happened to sight the dis
ADLER motor boat drifting out to sea
flying distress signals. Within a short
time they We're able to reach the boat
and the craft was towed in to the Cape.
The occupants of the boat did not give
their names, but it is understood that
one OF the men was conductor on
the South Portland division of the
Portland Railroad Co.
Joshua Warren Halfway of Ban
gor has been appointed an Middle
Camp to Governor Washburns staff
with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
A despatch from the Army OF
the Potomac TO the Philadelphia In
quirer says that the enemy have re-
turned to Gordonsvilie and will be
there ready to give us battle.
Deserters from the Rebel Army say
Bragg was obliged 20 destroy much of
the property captured by his forces
in Kentucky to prevent it from fall
ing into Buelfs hands. 1t is stat
ed that there are now about 100000
sick soldiers, 10000 of which are in
New York City. Com. Preble talks
honestly He do serves all he demands
Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-11-12
NEW YORK STOCK MARKET. s
Features of the Days Dealings in All
the Leading Stocks.

New York Nov. 1f.-After four hours
of .irreguiarity, during which prices rose
and fell within one-point limis, today S
stock market suddenly turned weak IN
the last hour, not only wipinS out all
gains but in several important Instances,
notably United States Steel, gong under
last weeks low level.
The selling in the late dealings was
only moderate and the decline Aaitosetner
gradual The only previous break IN the
monotony of the session was during the
noon, hour, when the list suffered sharp
reversal on news from washington inat
the supreme court would render no ueSls-
ioin today, in the several SUITS OF esps-
eial interest to Wall Street including tpe
so-called coal cases and the Union IA
cific- Southern Pacific merger.
Foreign conditions were neSatiNelI
helpful to the days reacuonafy move
ment London's prices for our STOCKS
showed more losses than gains, and the
british METROPOLIS had it's own troubles
in connection with the fortnightly SET
Elements and the possible dissolution OF
the liberal ministry. Uncertainties grow
ing out of the Balkan situation Were an
added factor, not only IN bondoh' pu, al
the French and German capitals.
Call money touched 6 per cent towards
the end of the day, but time rates eaSeu
a fraction by reason of last saturday
better bank statement. The one cheer-
full note of the day was CONTAINED m
traffic advices from the Middle West
which showed that the business OF the
railways at the moment Is iimiteu ohiy
by the capacity of the equipment
Bonds We're lower on fair distribution
of offerings. Total sales, par value, ag-
gregated S2,03S, 600 United States bonds
were unchanged on call.