davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22
Youth a Poetic Genius
be New York Trlbur,

From the New York Tribune
 San FrancEco literary folk are greatly impressed by the poet genius Of George Ashton Smith. i9 years old of Auburn Cal. The boy was born and reared on a mountain farm and received no n- struction beyond that afforded by the district school.
 The lad came to the notice of Boutwell, Dunlap, consul for the Argentine Repun- lie, few years ago, when the latter was spending a vacation in Auburn. The con- sul was so pleased with smiths odes and sonnets that he brought htm to this city. Since that time the young poet has written about J0 poems. and they are to be printed in November
 Some literary authorities so SO far as to say that they rank with the best En- glish lyric verse.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

cellus' whskers out. and we made Podg- CTS pay him E cents. which was the usual price of Il shave. and then they shook hands and we sung: onward, Christian Soldiers and Aunt Sally Hudgins shouted all over one end of the bush arbor. and we had a
 When I was in Memphis interr Iptsd the sewing machine agent, " met fe- low in a saloon who claimed that he was with Doctor Cook on his north pole expe- dltlon. He said there was a barbershop in H'reezemstin, the most northern village of Melville Land with this sign on the wall: If you can't raise 15 cents, raise whisk- CTS"
 The fellow said he had kept a diary. Just like Dr. Cook did. and he pulled out little red book, and read mo extracts something like this:
 January 3-The ice crop for next year is promising. though the outlook for spring farming is gloomy. These roads are bum; the overseers ought to be indicted for failing to work the roads. Intend to eat the leading dog of the team tomorrow. February 14- Thought I had staggered up on a nig- ger ball last night at o'clock. but 1t proved to be a musk OK. The OK had probably been tied to the pole, but broke loose. OK tail soup, seasoned with shoe pegs and castor oil, proved a welcome dish to my hungry Esqui- maux.
 Yesterday Fat as-Mush, one of my Esquimaux guides. devoured leatbe5- back hymn book and he is frightening the dogs with his open air concerts. This Is a fine country for a prohibit ton campaign. March 3--Found a seal on an iceberg; 1t was the seal of the John D. Ice Co. Mercury 259 degrees below zero; had better hunt up my winter clothing. Market dull, bread- stuffs scarce. Enjoyed q frugal even ing meal of Spaldings glue and tan shoe polish" etc. He did not read these fugative entries until after I had tried to sell him a sewing machine. and had read him lot of gilt edged testimonials from our leading citizens, to the effect that the machine am handling is the most unparalleled piece of mechanism of the twentieth century. Ball bearing attachments. gents, walnut top, automatic shuttle, all parts forged steel. at the low price of-
 But when the machine agent looked around the club had oozed out to where each man was out of the reach of his blandishments.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

1 the balance I shipped to Lancaster Pa. and there opened a new store ir June, 1879, with a total stock worth $4O0. I was worth. net. $225. "The first days sales amounted to $127.64. I Immediately telegraphed Moore &, Smith to duplicate the stock I felt sure that at last I had my op- portunity.
 T opened a second store fin Harris burg, Pa in July of that year. on De- cember 2S, 1879, I completed an inven- tory of my two stores and found that was worth $500 net. all my notese and debts having been paid. From that beginning we have gone on upward to the present"
 The underlying idea of the and lO cent stores can be traced back to 1870 when, according to Mir Woolworth. someone in Boston conceived the Idea of putting out merchandise at a uniform was worth $500 net. all my notes stores containing, exclusively. goods to sell at 99 cents. The jobbing house of Horace Partridge & Go. did a tremend- ous business in selling to 99 cent stores which spread like wildfire throughout the country. Every city of 10000, or more. contained at least one 99 cent store.
 From the 99 cent idea grew the cent idea, which got a practical start through the jobbing house Of Spellman Bros, New York. A MT. Bennett of this firm conceived the idea of making handk erchiefs to sell at cents. When the cent idea was united to the 10 cent idea, new commercial entity was created which has grown tremendously.
 Tn pooling the issues of numerous stores under the aegis of a big parent company it was found impracticable to get $50 chicks under one hen; so the management was divided into units with offices in eight different cities with a trusted and experienced mana : ger at the head of each. These are the men who are looked to for re- suits. The company has commissions . CTS constantly studying outlying com munities with a view to establishing new stores wherever there Is an op- portunity.
 
 6So stores spread over the earth's sur face at first thought seems appalling. Mir Woolworth has cut the Gordian knot by inventing a simple system. His theory is that a set of books should be so clearly kept that anyone at any minute can plainly see the facts of d oit and credit At the end of each business day the big company knows where it stands to penny, and it does not owe a dollar in the world. And yet this great chain of retail stores transacts an annual business of apout s60.o00.0o0.
 Quick returns. or turning stock quickly, is one of the secrets of sue cess in this big enterprise. When MT. Woolworth opened his store in Iancas- ter, in 1879. he sold out one-third of his entire stock on the opening day. While every employe is a cog in the great machine. he is not required nor expected to be always the same cog. Indisidualism is encouraged and the men who take a real interest in their work are moved forward. MT. Wool
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22
Evolution of an Idea
The Wool,uorth Bui1dinq
(Continued From Previous page)

leaves in autumn. Over s4,oo0,O00 a year is paid in rents, and the business done, annually, aggregates $60.000,00o Five years ago ITO stores showed 1,556- 900 visitors in one day and s5 per cent of them were purchasers. The stores aim to be as much alike as pos sible, and the managers try to elimin- ate all stpuid or unreasonable jealousy or narrowness of view. They are urged to live up to the principles enunciated at headquarters: Honesty, good value to customers
 Five and 10 cent stores save the pur- chasing public the labor of thinking, and they are largely profitable because they are labor saving institutions.
 Henry invented the telegraph, but Morse perfected 1t and utilized it com mercially. r. W. Woolworth. president of the $65,000,o00 company, whose busi- ness is operating and 10 cent stores does not claim to have originated the business. That honor he accords to H w. Moore of Watertown, N. Y. MT Moore launched the idea in 1878 by es- tablishing small cent counter in his dry goods store, the shibboleth of which
 was: Any article on this county cents" and when, after varying fea- lures, the firm dissolved, MT. Moore started the first and 10 cent store in operated successfully ever since. Thus was born and christened an idea of tremendous potentiality, out of which great fortunes have been made-an idea the notifications of which have taxed the ingenuity of thousands of minds MT. Moore should, says MT. Woolworth, be looked up to as the father of the and 10 cent business today, and we should not forget that he is responsi- ble to an extent for the existence of the present mammoth company. It was wiht this innovator that Mir. Woolworth got his first experience of the cent idea. He says:
 "In September. 1878, one day Moore & Smith fixed up little counter, ard on it were placed shop worn goods with few new things to brighten it and simple sign was put up: Any article on this counter cents Success 'foS uc touiltT Wds enlarged. In little while half the store was devoted to this line of goods Other firms followed our lead. and Moore & Smith began to wholesale this class of goods to other merchants and did what was thought to be tre- mendous business.
 Now was my opportunity In Janu- ary. 1879. I announced to Mir. Moore that would like to open , cent store. and I asked him If he would sell me the stock on credit. I had only $50. He said he would. provided could get my fath- CTS name on a note for $500. did get my fathers indorsement, and I selected ss22 worth of goods, and then struck out to find a location.
 After a long search, on February q, 1879, I opened my store in Utica, N. r.. agreeing to pay s30 month rent and I had hard time convincing the landlord that I would be able 10 keep on paying that rent.
 At first the business was a success. but later 1t dwindled to nothing. I sold out part of the stock for S170, and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

1 to Share in the proceeds. as it's needs may appear.
 Every tax ought to be so contrived as both to take out and to keep cut of tte pockets of the people little as possible over and above what it brings into the public treasury" In the face of this ax- l om, which is as terse as 1t IS true, one
 vill find citizens of this commonwealth who commend one governor for hoarding T large surplus in the state treasury, and condemn another for returning it to the people in the forms that the people de- manded.
 An unequal taxation on capital at home, 1 places a premium upon its investment abroad.
 | The perfect system of taxation ought to provide for an increase in the revenue in proportion as the population and the con- sequent demands for governmental exper- ditures increase.
 l Forms of Taxes
 Direct taxes are those on land. tools. live stock. etc. Direct taxes are the fairest. but they prompt tho conceaiment of prop erty and other evasions. and provoke dis satisfaction and complaint. They are more in harmony with a representative form of government.
 l Indirect taxes are duties laid on imports and excisees on home manufactured ar ticles. The tariff and the internal revenue tax on beer, whisky and other articles are indirect taxes Indirect taxes are paid more cheerfully. because no one thinks of l the tax he pays when purchasing articles upon which the taxes are levied. This &C., 1 counts for the fact that the people do not grumble at their corpulent contributions to the federal government but complain bitterly of the puny payments they hove to make to the state.
 l According to the Bible, (see 27th chapter of Leviticus). the first taxation was In the form known as ''tithes." Moses was the first tax assessor, and an appeal rom him could be taken to the priesthood for final adjudication.
 l Tax-dodging is first shown hy the acts l of Ananias and Saphira. and the. pity is that the same results do not follow in modern times.
 Direct Taxes in England l at the time of the Plantagenet and Tudor reigns started the wholesale development of scientific evasion of tax paying. II | reached the climax in the reign of James l I. During the latter's time the subsidies | and the "fifteenths." as the direct taxes on real and personal property were called I produced less than they did over three centuries before. This was true, notwitll- standing the fact that the Stuart ''sover- eign' contained only one-third of the mon- ey metal which was contained in the ''sov- ereign" coined in the thirteenth century and prices of all commodities and of lands | had risen as a result of the cheaper i money. Tax-dodging had reached the pinnacle of perfection. The church was not satisfied with the perfection of tax lodging set forth above. Pope Bonifacs VIII (pope of Rome) issued a papal edici
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

while trying to decide whether to send it or not. At last I got started to. ward the telegraph office, but still hesl- tated. I walked past the office several times debating with myself whether tc embark in the business or not Finally I plucked up nerve enough to go in and send the telegram. From that moment l knew my fate was sealed, and con tinued to prepare the store for busi- hess.
 Every business man has encountered such dramatic and fateful moments Woe unto him whose nerve fails him In such a crisis
 No romance in business Then is there no poetry in life!
 Where is the man who would not feel a thrill of pleasure on entering toy factory in old Nuremburg, in Germany and buying the entire years output to be sold to American children for tc 10 cents each? What more interesting than to solve the problem of making useful things by the million to sell foi 10 cents. which. If made in small quan titles, would cost $1 apiece? Is 1t not ar engaging pursuit to direct the energies of skilled buyers all over the world and to speculate on what will or will hot prove popular and profitable? To conserve the interest of and pay wages to 10000 employees. who wait upon 5000, ,0O0 customers a day gives some play to the ina gination, Does the giambIer at Monte Carlo get more men, tai emotion out of the game than does the business man whose daily expense In conducting 680 stores amounts to t3o,000. The geographical distribution of csc stores over the globe is in It. self study, apart from the absorbing consideration of racial peculiarities and requirements. The Woolworth stores sell 5000, 900 pounds of candy in a year One of them recently bought ship ment of oranges and sold them in a day at 10 cents dozen. If the Wool worth stores were placed side by side they would extend to distance of four miles. They absorb the entire outpu' of many factories and the partial out put of many others in the single item of hairpins Of these they acquire and bIStTlDute [DV toHS III PoSno equal to 10 carloads. allowing 20 tons to the car. It is Woolworth's pleasure to help keep the American public clean; 90 he sells them 9.S00.0o0 cakes of soap each year He adorns women annually with 26,500 yards of lace which may be Aeld in place by 150.000 dozen papers of |ordinary and 220,537 gross of safety pins. The stores supply people yearly with 17,zs0 pairs of hose, which are supported in the case of men by 5000 gross pairs. and of women 1900 gross pairs of hose supporters These fig ures would indicate that there are more supporters in the world than SUD- ported--a seeming paradox. Shoes on American feet were tied last year with Is. .00o, 900 pairs of Woolworth's shoe laces Men shoppers took from the stores during the year 20.000 dozen pairs of suspenders, and both sexes indu ged themselves in 1s,000 gross Of horn dressing combs. Figures would convey no idea of the billions of postal cards Chat emerge From the and 10 osnt storss like myriads of flying
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

tbulD by virtue of which the people were forbidden to pay taxes to lay persons Edward (l<ing of England). ir etaliation proceeded to eurtail the privileges and prestige of the clergy, with success.
 Tax evaders have prohted by ancient ex- rerience. and today the property in the state of Alabama is not assessed for ex- ceeding 70 per cent of it's real value It is case of "Everybody's doing it now"
 The taxes that were levied in ancient times would cause riots in this country If the law makers were to attempt to put them in operation. The following are some of the taxes of ancient times. The hearth tax" and chimney tax of ! England was abolished during the reign of William and Mary. In 1891. tax was imposed on marriages, births, burals, and on bachelors and widowers. Widows, old maids and young maids, for some reason, were exempted. These taxes were grad uated, rising from four shilings on the burial of the humblest person. to $50 in the case of a duke or duchess. The tax on births ranged from ? shillings to- eso: on marriages from shillngs. pence to l shilling to 9l2 10 shillings per year. | The Hollanders In the Seventeenth cen | tury taxed marriages. births and deaths and the precedent is followed unto this day-in the shape of voluntary offerings to the clergy for baptism and funeral ceremonies, and a legalzed and fixed tax on marriages.
 An Unsolved Problem
 | Whether or not high taxation is a bene- | fit or a detriment to state or nation re- mains at present an unsolved problem. The national expenditures of the Dutch In the palmy days of their financial succeas were enormous; the high taxation to which those people submitted mas had no parallel since. Notwithstanding the pro digious sacrifices which they made in pay ing high taxes, they accumulated capital so rapidly by reason of enterprise, ecor- omy, and thrift" that those who watched their financial condition mads all kinds oi guesses as to what could be the reason why enormous taxation was accompanied | by a remarkably low interest rate. Some theorists asserted, That high taxation |
 No sage has been able to successfully disprove the assertion made by the theo- rists
 l In this country we have experienced Q condition of affairs very similar to that experienced by the Dutch. as set out above, with the exception that we have not had any of the redeemng traits oi enterprise. economy and thrift" This nation, as a whole. has enjoyed a degree of prosperity. under the highest tariff ever 1 devised, that has caused students of po- l litical economy to guess whether or not the prosperity could be attributed to 8 l high tariff. And there are many very learned men who hold this view, while there are equally as many, just as learned
 who hold to the opposite view.
 Experience With High Tax
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22
BYH Y BROOKE State Examiner of Public Accounts For Alabama

a pair of mules is taxed? Why should over ten head of sheep and over twenty head of hogs and over two cows and calves be taxed and a 5000 hen be exempt ed from tsxation9 Why should church property or property of charitable lnsu- tutions be exempt, while the property or the individual Is taxed? The argument that 1t is the Lords house is impotent, for the Lord owns all. Why should co., ton factory be exempt. and brick fac tory be taxedg Why should pig iron be exempt, while the farm is taxed? It is d provable fact that one of those favored institutions yielded a profit 10 its prn- motors of 100 per cent 1 the investment in one year, while I challenge any farmer to show a net profit of per cent. on his investment If we have any money to spend for the fostering and promoting of scientific farming, 1t should be used for the instruction of the farmer, so that he would tickle the inertia of the earth for profit. rather than for prizes.
 The exemption of church property has in some states caused some denominations to issue circular letters to aged property holders requesting them to make the'r property over to the church and avoid taxation The church authorities on their part, agreeing to let the owners continue in the undisputed possession of the prop erty and the fruits thereof until afte; death Of all "the get rich quick schemes, thls Is the worst. Section 201' of the Code. It was passed for the ex- l press purpose of exempting from taxation one particular patent
 Alabama Tax Laws
 | The chaotic condition of the present taS laws can be traced 10 one of two sources Lack of knowledge or self interest," Our tax laws have been constructed upor the same plan that the ladies used to piece what is known as "crazy quilts Tie re- suit is that we have lot of statutes tha no one is possessed of sufficient acumer to intelligently interpret.
 The average legislator arrives at th' state capitol with a little pocket plei,' known as personal appropriation" whiet he is desirous of putting over for either his county or his district, and so deeply 1 is he imbued with the necessity for get ting his pet measure through that he vii not hesitate to vote for or against "anA old thing" in return for votes for his par ticular measure And so it soea from ses sion to session, from bad to worse, will apparently TO hope of an intelligent ao l justment of our tax system 10 meet tn rapidly changing conditions. It is of rec ord that one legislator, who was returned more than one time to the legislative hall boasted that he voted for every appropria tion and aginst every revenue measure and pointed with pride to his record as al evidence that he was a statesman.
 Many Sections Obsolete
 Take the matter of assessment of prop erty read the sections carefully and vol l will find that they are obsolete in thel application in many instances. l quot this choice bit of Section 21ls. When ever the assessor, while performing th
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

The most difficult problem of govern ment taxation. and the exercise Of tnis function is certain to produce refractory citizenship. The real scat of sensitiveness is the purse of the people.
 If there be something wrong in the pres lent condition of the states financial affairs as the formidable deficit lately untoided to the people indicates. it should be attrio- uted to the inattention of the legislature a it's duties. The deficit produced. and tie taxes necessary to meet it, should causs the taxpayer to be careful in the future to vote for men who have the 'ntciiec' anu the honesty to pass only necessary appro- priations and to act from motives patriotic rather than motives polite.
 Members of the legislature should be ih- oculated with the idea that they are TO
 make laws to govern all the people of tie state. rather than some particular coun- ties or senatorial districts.
 The tax question has already excited . discontent, which is being famed into frenzy, by some who wish to evade the payment of their just share of the burden of government.
 Taxation of the nearest perfect kind should possess the qualities of equality certainty of collection, and economy Of disbursement.
 Bear on All Alike
 The citizens of every state. ought, by right and justioeS contribute to it's main tenance, as nearly as possible, in propor- ton to the alth of each individual citi- zen. The knses of government should bear on al e. The observance or neg lect.of tIt going maxim creates what ' is terme| equality" or inequality of taxat The state shound impose such ta re most easily ascertained and coll ad most conductive to the general the public The state through slature, should not regard the parti Interests of the individual or of tho hation, or the locality, bu, consider enship as whole. This view is tn lilly acquiesced in, but ir practice egarded. because patriot ism is c 2 doubtful virtue ir modern t
 Accordif Equality of taxation as a maxi blitical economy. means equality of ke. It means the appor- tioning of t |ribution of each toward t.ie expense overnment, DO that he shall feel ne more nor less 'nconven- fence from hS share of the payment than every other person experiences from his: The citizen worth $10.000 of property. car pay, say, 10 per cent. on his wealth, more easily than citizen worth sl l,O0o can pay 10 per cent. on his wealth. Tlle former has surplus above the necessities of life Wherefore the necessity for a graduated scale of taxation. Taxes are a payment for valuable services rendered by the state in furnishing protection for life, liberty and property" Hence. the greater the amount of property owned, the greater the service rendered by the state.
 Without exaggeration, the state can bs said to be a partner in all industrial ur- dertakings in it's confines, and IF entitled