davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
Powers of the Board of Revenue

The decision of the board of revenue in tax case is not final, and the state cannot appeal to the courts for relief from decision of the board of revenue in a tax case. The state can, however, ask the state tax commission to consider the matter.
 But if an aggrieved tax payer does not like the action of the state tax commission he can take an appeal to the circuit court when he can lay his case before a jury of his peers, which is sometimes the better way. The su- preme court, in other words, refused to enjoin the state tax commission in a given case, but left the taxpayer free to carry his case to the circuit court, and the state tax commission has no right to touch valuation fixed by court of record upon appeal during the tax year.
 The decision of the supreme court really applies to 10S valuations in this county involving tax raises that ag- gregate about five millions of dollars. It renders the state tax commission dictators of valuation throughout this state in the absence of appeals to a court of record.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
LIFE vITHorT LAUGHTER

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
 Of a 16-year-old boy who committed sui- eide by sending a bullet into his brain. it is said by his father that he did not know how to laugh; that he had never been seen to smile except once when a baby sister did something that amused him. The joy of life was not in him.
 The defect is not unusual, though rarely found in one so young, or so abnormally developed. Curiously enough some of the most active brains of modern times have felt and described it. It is the basis of the whole philosophy of pessimism
 Human life according to Leopardi, is but an incessant swinging from discontent to weariness what we call pleasure. he says is but the temporary relief we find in passing from one of these moods to the other. Schopenhauer taught similar doctrine. Goethe felt it in his youth and expressed it in "The Sorrows of Werther." It is the tonic note in the poetry of Byron to which his songs invariably return In a notable psychological romance Zoia made a study of it and undertook to eX- plain how youth, beauty and genius can fall into sheer wearness of life, while age, wretchedness vice and even mental and physical defornity can ever find bright ness in the sunshine, frolic in the winds and joy merely in living.
 This is the truth that inspires the saving of Joseph de Maistre, Tt is not enough to give man the means of livelihood we must give him something to make life worth living" Many men have .ound life worth living without laughing, but they lived in sterner ages than ours. He that cannot smile in our time is foriorn indeed
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
STORY OF CRAWFORD

Many visitors to Rome, writes Lad deley Boardman in the December Cen tury," will remember the German book Herr S-. of whom a story is told which throws a backward light upon the apparently troublesome activities, as boy of a distinguished American nov elist Herr S--, who had been estab- lished in Rome as a bookseller almost lifetime, once met in his store another elderly gentleman, who said:
 Isn't it fine, MT. S-, about Frank Crawford?'
 Fine about Frank Crawford? vot you mean?"
 Why about his book-a great success. Haven't you heard. Haven't you read it?"
 Read his pook? No. Frank craw- ford ride pool1? Impossiblef'
 "Oh, yes: no doubt of it. Giuseppe'- calling a salesman,-''let me have a copy of MT. Isaac please.
 When the volume was brought 10 the incredulous bookseller. he held it at arms length, looking at it curiously as he turned it from side to side and from end to end; then he cautiously examined the title page, with it's "-th edition" which he greeted with a guttural Huh Next he turned to the last page, and read the concluding sentence with another grdnt of astonishment. Then he dipped into the volume in two or three places, and finally satisfied that he was not being deceived banded back the book to Giu- scope without looking at him, and said;
 Yell veni dot brooves dc you must neffer trown a poy.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
STOLEN TURKEY

From the Topeka Capital.
 Rev Mgernon $. Crapsey, in an inter view during the Little Falls strike. said of very religious and very notorious child labor millionaire:
 This reminds me of Uncle Calhoun Clay.
 ''Uncle Cal was accused of stealing a turkey, and the Sunday after the accu- sation being communion Sunday, the old fellow was one of the first communicants at the little white church.
 His pastor. Rev. Washington White. said to him reproachfully, after the ser vice:
 "'Calhoun Clay, I'm ashamed Of you. The idea of your coming to communion after stealing a turkey.'
 Lands d massy, parson, said oid I-ncle Cal. do you think I'd let skinny old turkey, hardly worth 10 cents pound. stand betwixt me and the Lords table7
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
GREATNESS CALLED FORTH

By Sam Walter Foss. Men seem as alike as the leaves on the
 trees, As alike as the bees in the swarming Of
 bees; And we look at the millions that make up
 the state. Fl All equally little, all equally great, And the pride of our courage Is cowed. And then fate calls for a man who is
 larger than men, There is a surge in the crowd-there's
 movement-and then There arises the man who is larger than And the man comes up from the crowd The chasers of trifles run hither and you, And the mean little days of small trifles
 go on And the world seems no better at sunset
 than dawn. And the race still increases its plentiful
 spawn, And the voice of our wailing is loud. Then the great deed calls out for the
 great man to come, And the crowd unbelieying, sits sullen and
 dumb But the great deed is done, for the great man is come Ay, the man comes up from the crowd.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
Well known Asthma speelfe

"Whitelaw Reid, the American ambas- sador to Great Britain, who died from an attack of asthma. was a native of Ohio, the state in Wlich Dr. Nathan Tucker lives, a man who discovered a remedy that is as widely used, perhaps, as any other asthma specific known to sufferers" said an old asthmatic citizen.
 "Dr Tucker is now quite an elderly man, I understand and the fact that he was troubled with asthma led him to experiment on himself with satisfactory results. He patented his remedy, but never advertised it. Sufferers who tricd it found great relief from it and passed the word around and today it is used by thousands.
 "I wonder if the late ambassador used this specific? If he did not it is a pity for it might have proIonged his life or at least prevented the violent paroXysm which was described i'll the Associated Press account of his death
 q have tried scores of remedies and have had relief from some of them. but nothing has done me so much good as Dr. Fuckers atomizer."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
MT. GruSty,s Visit

John Sharshall Grasty, associate pro- lessor of geology in the University of Virginia, who spent Wednesday night in Birmingham, left yesterday for Gadsden. where he is making some examinations in iron ore,
 "1 have done a great deal of field work in the Birmingham district. said Mr. Grasty and am now spending my holi- day vacation in looking over some ore lands near Gadsden.
 T am great believer, as is well known, in Alabama ores. Although the red ore here is not as high metallically as the Lake Superior ore, it's self fluxing character and other advantages which it possesses make it exceptionally attractive from an economic point of view"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

is trying to prevent competition while the other is trying to open the road to it.
 As yet no one sees how the Union Pacific is to gain control of the Gen. tral Pacific, but that will be eX- plained later on as the reorganization progresses. Thus far Judge Lovett is not hastening to accept the decision of the supreme court. He will prove obedient in the end but he moves slowly, and he is Mrs. Hartman s personal representative in this impor- tant business.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
Evergreen Decorations

'aehristmas-tide never comes round that I do not recall bygone years when I at- tended Christmas day services in solne Episcopal church in Virginia" said an old member Of Birmingham's Virginia colony Tn those days places of business and pri- vate homes were not decorated as they are now. It was only in church that we found the green wreaths and garlands.
 Tn the old Dominion we used running cedar altogether for the Episcopal church. This seemed to be indigenous to that part of the country and it served better than any other evergreen. The decorations re- mained in the church for several weeks and always looked fresh. There was a subtle and grateful odor caused by the slight bruising of the cedar.
 ''I like the modern custom of deeorat- ing stores and dwellings. This custom has become very general, am told, through out the country within the past few years.
 For tho home. smlax is largely used. Evergreen. in Conecuh county, Alabama, is the seat of a flourishing industry in smilax. The late George W. Caldwell. a northern man, was the founder of the smilax trade at Evergreen. The business is still carried on extensively and large shipments are being made from there at this time. Birmingham receives the bulk of it's smilax from Evergreen and so dc the northern cities.
 Holly is extensively used. too. in Christmas decoration. There is quite a holly industry at Thorsby, bul Washington. Baltimore and New York get their holly supply principally from Maryland and Delaware. Another popular article used in holiday decoration is the North Carolina Galax-a brownish bronze leaf, highly glazed Still another is the flat fern which comes from the north. 'Reyerting to church decorations, Min nesota and other northern states are doing profitable business in cedar This is shipped in bulk to Chicago, where it is manufactured into garlands and from there it is distributed throughout the country These garlands were formerly made by hand altogether. but now ma chinery is also used In the south the good women of the churches make the cedar garlands with their hands,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
Business Activity Continues

The demand for iron and steel prod ucts continues active. With some con cerns December is month of inven- tory-taking and there is usually a lull in wholesale and manufacturing busi- sness, but prosperity has had such big swing recently that the industrial world is going to be busy right through the holidays.
 The decided briskness in the iron and steel trade at this time is almost as remarkable as the fact that a gen eral boom started up last summer in the face of a presidential campaign. The enormous crops and sound busi- ness conditions concurred to stimulate every line of commerce and no matter what reactionares and Wall street bankers may say the great business of the country will move along health fly and actively.
 The New York stock market slumped because the United States supreme court decided that the Harri- man Pacific merger must be dissolved but this week the Hartman lines have placed an order for 100000 tons of rails for 1913; and this on top of sue cessive orders for the present year totaling something like 125,000. All the railroads are ordering and this weeks Iron Age, as told in yester- days Age Herald, had this to say:
 Prices of finished steel in 1913 promise to continue substantially on today's basis and consumers are working out of the strain they have been under in getting material. Steel supply will gradually increase. The Steel corporation will have nearly 100, ,000 tons a month greater steel ca pacity by the end of the first quarter.
 "The one definite advance in prices for the week was $1 ton in wire products
 The Iron Trade Review which, like the Iron Age, is an accepted authority on the metals market, says:
 "A number of price advances have been made in the past few days. The situation as a whole is highly satis- factory.
 Strength of the pig iron market is fully maintained, except in southern territory, where an increasing ten dency to sell at $13.50 for No. 2 Bir- mingham for early delivery is mani fested."
 As for southern selling prices the Birmingham market is now firm at $14 for prompt delivery and $14.50 for forward shipments. There were sales at $13.50 iron but they may be said to have been exceptions to the rule. They were mostly resales-that is to say, sales made by small specula- tive interests that needed money and therefore had to realize. Little or no $13.50 iron can be found today.
 There is every indication that the Birmingham iron market will be very firm at S14,50 in January and that the price in the early spring will not be below $15 for No. 9 The outlook for the Birmingham district was never brighter than it is at the present time.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
PHARAOH THE BALD
From the London Daily News.
 Pharaoh was bald,

From the London Daily News. Pharaoh was bald Prof G. Elliot Smith of the depart ment of antiquities at Cairo has just issued a remarkable study of the per sonal characteristics of the rulers of ancient Egypt, as revealed by their mummies. Their physical characters. their features, their badness, their Icorpulence, their deformities, are all studied scientifically One king was assassinated at he fay on his right third had d club foot.
 Pharaoh, the Pharaoh of the EX- odus, was old was bald, was somewhat stout, but had the refined features of his family.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES

Palladium, has been telling some amusing stories of his experiences.
 One night, at Enfield the audience num- bered only eight; which. as it happened, was also the number of the mnstrels. In spite of it's insignificant size, however the audience proved very exacting and crit ical. and after the show had proceeded for some time amidst good deal of noise, Little Thomas stepped forward to the footlights.
 Gentlemen" he said, you don't seem to be satisfied but I should like to point out that there are as many of Us as there are of you, and if you want a little trouble you can have it!''
 The audience calmed down at once, and the performance ended in comparative peaee.-Pearson's Weekly.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
THE HERON HABIT
From the Journal of the American Med cal Association.

From the Journal of the American Medi-
 cal Association.
 Heroin which is derived from mor- phine, is so frequently employed in the treatment of various diseases that the question of formation of habit from its use is a serious one. It is often prs- scribed for cough, the result of irritating conditions in the air passages, and physi- clans not infrequenty tell their patients what drug they are prescribing. SO that indirectly the patient comes to look on heroin as a harmless remedy for his cough Even physicians are not suffl~ ciently alive to the danger of habit from it's use In one instance a patient told physician. who was called to treat him for an attack of laryngiis. not to give him anything that contained opium. because he had formerly been a slave to this drug. The physician replied: II will give you some heroin; there is no danger of habit from that" This the patient took, with the result that he later had as much dil- hculty in breaking away from the heroin as from the opium habit
 Some patients who are addicted to the use of morphine substitute heroin be- cause it is easier to obtain. A further req son for the use of heroin is that firms advertising preparations containing this opium derivative call attention to it's harmlessness. In recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical associa- ;ion, pr. John Phillips of Cleveland calls attention to the fact that heroin is beins used extensievely by means of 'snuifins. in the tenderlon districts of large cities. One patient said that he knew at least 20 of his associates who used the drug in this manner. The dangers of this prac- tice should be known, as the heroin habit is just as bad as the morphine habit,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
REFLECTIONS OF \ BACHELOR
i the New York Press.

Flon the New York Press.
 The reason woman can wear such thin in full for the dishes in the various courses.
 stockings in wintry weather is she can worry if her husband hasn't his thiekest ur derwear on.
 A girl falls in love with man from force of example; a woman stays in from force of habit.
 A mans idea of appreciatins his wife Is if he comes home late at night and there is something in the ice box for him.
 Counterfeit people pass more easily than that kind of money
 The way for man to live a long liie is for you to be one of his heirs.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
As To sidewalk Manners

q think a lecture to certain types of men and even women just now as to street manners is timely" said q man who has been about the world a good deal.
 T notice that a certain robust and vigorous type of young men so swing ing and pushing through the thronGs of Christmas shoppers. not exactly roughly, but in way that shows u lack of consideration of others to say the least Now this is a season for going slow with many who are do- ing Christmas shopping. Then, too, there are many children, mere tots some of them, who are seeing the pretty toys SD abuadanuy shown by Santa Claus in the shop windows beg. these stalwart youths not to for get that they themselves once looked with wondering eyes upon the glarious
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
FAMOUS BOWERY KING

last long there. He was arrested several times for violating the excise law, but always managed to get off. About 190l McGlory was back in the Bronx again, running the Emerald on Third avenue. He was one of the lost lights of the Ten derloin by this time. There was no comeback for him
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
Instructor of Political Science

W. M. Hunley, who is a professor in the department of political science in the University of Virginia, was in Birmng- ham this week for the first time.
 This is a great district" said Mir Hun ley. q visited the Tennessee company S steel plant here on Wednesday and the Southern Iron and Steel company's plant at Gadsden earlier Tn the week. Birmns- ham as a city makes q fine impression on a visitor. It is a much larger and a much handsomer city than I had expected to see.'
 In speaking of the University of Vir- gnia Mir Hunley said that it was doing excellent work in al, departments. My department of politicei science is new at the university" said Mr. Hunley. The science itself is comparatively new In some universities it is called the science of government. Woodrow Wilson has been great exponent of this modern science Nobody knows politics academically bet ter than he and it now remains to be seen how successful he will be in apply ing science to practice.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

MT. Taft has accepted the law chair at Yale and Yale is delighted over it. The President will be left free to lecture else- where or to practice law in New York, al- though he will live in New Haven.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
NOT WHEN -IMBIRING.

"Dibbs can assert his dignity on oc- casion."
 "Yes, if the occasion is not too vinous or spirituous."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

No honor is considered too great for nomination for President by the repu5- lican party, should not be showed on him. It is a gold brick.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

The Secretary of War thinks the gov ernment should acquire 6OO,O00 acres in the White mountains in carrying out the fed eral conservation scheme
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

The general superintendent of the Pennsylvania railroad tells his employees: You can't run trains and drink rum at the same time"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
PASsERS-BY.

PASSERS-BY. Alas, to think
 The life we live And so much toll And struggle give. Is yet so brie'
 That when We die We are no more Than passers-by. Departing souls.
 Ere long forgot, Our circumstance And earthly lot; Sojourners here Who soon will press Into the realm Of silentness.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

The weapon of ex-communication in santo Domingo when used against insur- rectionists seems to increase their zeal for revolution.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

Thomas A. Edison is surprising all by sending storage battery cars up a 91s per cent grade on Orange mountain. Official tests of these cars will soon be made public.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

The nursery car is not added to the milk train. Oh, no. It goes with some special flyer for which increased pay is demanded.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

presents of Santa Claus. as revealed by his dispensers.
 And the ladies Well they need to be remined that they must not try to travel three-abreast in these days of crowded sidewalks. Also it is well to say here, that when a man, fianked on both sides by lady. meets others in the street. il is good form and proper and for the uncouth let me say right forA the man to drop back in passing others.
 The streets are crowded with shop pers. Many of them are visitors from out of town Sleepy Hollows, or mod arn Athens. perhaps. They are not trained to the hustle and onward drive of the people of this bustling, busy city Let's be very considerate of them for if we should at any time visit them or their home town, nothing would be left undone to add to our pleasure and comfort. Then, too. have we not 'sloganed' it, Trade in Birming- ham, Therefore let us be polite to the strangers within our gate, for we can oftimes tell them. l can"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

Sororities and secret societies are to be shut cut of Montgomery's public schools The high school is not excepted. Twelve states have taken similar action. and Montgomery is simply keeping up with tEe procession.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

No one should attempt to ship the baby to grandma by parcels post after January l. It would be against the law.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

The Hartman roads are placing orders for rails freely. They want 100000 tons in 1913 Merger dissolutions do not alarm them in the least
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

When you receive a package marked Not to be opened until Christmas don't feel at liberty to punch peep-hole in it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

Too many cooks at st. James palace will it is feared. spoil the peace troth.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
HEROIC METHOD.

''So you went all the way to Paris and didn't send back single souvenir post card?"
 Yes
 "Oh, Bella, how could you resist the tenptation?''
 .'Will power, my dear, just will over. I kept saying to myself, You are not in Paris, France but Paris, Kentucky
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

When New York gets a $1O,O0O.o0o stad. ium it will be almost classical.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

All told. Sidna Allen, the real leader of the Hillsvile elan, has been sentenced to 90 years of imprisonment
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

The Danish women have won a suffrage victory. and they are told now to get ready for military service.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

The testing of 14-inch cannon is now called an extra hazardous profession
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
OPINIONS pIFFER.

He thinks himself a dandy beau.
 A corlling fellow, but The father of the girl, you know, Considers him a mutt.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

Eggs in Philadelphia are extremely pop ular. The battle of Armageddon was 8 light affair alongside the battle Of Phia- delphia women for just prices. The gro- cery trust was fought to standstilI
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20

Anelo-Ameriean peace is to be eemented by erecting a monument to George Wash- ington in Westminster Abbey and by pur- chasing Sulgrave manor. Northampton shire, the ancestral home of Washington.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-20
MOVING.

The world keeps going on and up Like dancers to a tune; A man out West, so we've just read, Now grows a seedless prune.
 Houston Post. But why put out a seedless prune, Or any other kind? If every prune should vanish soon We would not greatly mind.