davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09
+ 20, 100000 Fighting Men
rom the New York Times.

Il rum tis NEW YORK Times.
Figures recently compiled by Director
Durand OF tho bureau of the census give
the number of males comprising the nat
ural militia of this country by divisions
and states, on the basis of the returns OF
the thirteenth decennial census
In the total population of the United
states exclusive of noncontiguous ter
ritories or possessions) there We're In 1910
lo473,6s4 males OF militia age, that is,
from Is to Al years, inclusive. In 1900 tho
males OF militia are numbered 16. 1s2, ,702.
Wfiile the total population OF the country
increased by Il per cent, In that decade,
men OF militia age In the Same period in
creased 26.5 per cent. and as Z conse-
quence constituted somewhat greater
portion of the total poplation. OF the
total population of both sexes and all
ages In 1910, 22.3 per cent were males or
militia age, as compared with 213 per
cent in 1900. The increase is accounted
FOR partly by the fact that Immigration
In recent years. to a greater degree than
III earlier years. was predominantiy mals.
Among the states the percentage Or
Wyoming is the highest, males of militia
age there constituting IN 1910 s. 4 nc t
OF the population. Other states with
high percentages were Nevada, as.9; Mon
tana, 32.s; Washington, 29s; Arizona.
-os, oregon, %3. and California, %, all
or these states being Pacific coast or
Rocky Mountain states Tho percentage
for North Carolina, 17.S per cent, was tho
lowest.
or the 2O.473,6s4 males of militia age in
1910, there were 2,156.S61 in New York.
state alone. or the increase for the Gee
ade, amounting to 4.290,9s2, nearly one
fourth, 1,074,42f, was in the middle At
lantic division. comprising the states of
nd De rlxa
The male population OF militia age in
New York increased 1886; in Pennsyl-
Nania, 3s2,70S; in California, 2S6.6i5; in
Illinois, 239 0S4; In Texas, 2O5,75
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09

and mining engineers. There are Amer
lean farmers with American foremen
and American coffee planters and many
fruit raisers. There are large num-
Der of Americans engaged In the old
business, not only in the properties be-
longing to the citizens of the United
States, but as overseers, welt drillers
and 1aborers in prospecting the oil ter
ritory and caring for the petroleum.
Every large city has its American COL
ony and you can find an American
boarding house, usually run by an
American woman in every important
the capital, and they are usually bet
ter than the hotels, with much lower
prices.
The big railroads are largely man
aged by Americans, although of late
years the engineers, conductors and
bralSemen have been replaced by. ma
tives. There are many American pro-
fessional men and especially doctors
and dentists / am told there are two
American physicians at the capital who
have practices worth $4,000 a year,
the United States who are putting peas
of silver and amalgam into the mouths
of Mexicans and taking pumpkins of
gold out of their pockets.
AS far back as 10 years ago our con-
sui general to Mexico City estimated
that there were 1000 American COM
panies and capitalists who had invest
ments in Mexico. There are somewhere
between 5000 and 5000 Americans living
at the capital and they have wholesale
and retail stores here of various kinds.
The city has three clubs which are
American. One is the University club
in the Colonia section. to which belong
many American civil and electrical en-
gineers, as well as leading business
men. Another is the American club, in
the heart of the city, which is always
filled with Americans and others at
the noon lunching hour and a third is
the Country club, outside the city.
where the Americans go to loaf and
play golf
We have here a newspaper the Mex
lean Herald. which is owned and edited
by Americans, and there are several
hotels managed by Americans and at
which most of the Americans stay In
the first fight between Diaz and Ma
dero the former dropped a shell
through the roof of Mrs. Porter's new
American house.
In addition to the above eminently re-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09

considers the american" bar. Five
years ago an American bar existed only
in the Kaiserhof hotel. Now there are
registered in Berlin over 20 bars"
most of which claim to be more or less
"American;" and prove their claims by
long schedules of cocktails and juleps
with Anglo o-Saxon names. The Amer
lean" bar, like most other American in
stitutions In Berlin, was originated by
rich returned German emigrants from
the United States. The 1000 odd Amer
leans living in Berlin, who are mostly
mild musical and sober, seldom go
near these bars. If they do go near
them they make weird remarks upon
the list of american drinks"--upon
the White Mountain Cocktail" the
''Wasmay Cocktail" the "Silver
Juleppe,' the RYE High Bowl" and
the still more wonderfully named con-
coctions which are introduced to Ber-
liners as the latest inventions of in
calculable America.
Another sign of Berlin's Americani
zation Is Berlins new way of living.
The once domesticated Berliner is de-
serting his self-contained apartment
for the hotel and the apartment hotel.
The passion Is to cut down domestic
life and to get rid of the Pomeranian
'Dienstmaedchen," who is more uppish
and exactng than the help" of the
American comic journal.
Also 1t is elegant and ''welstaed-
tisch," metropolitan, to eat away from
home. Hence spectators are running up
giant blocks of houses where you can
get an apartment without a kitchen and
dine In a general public hall. The first
of these apartment hotels were built In
q suburb four years ago, when Berlin
was not sufficiently Americanized TO live
up to them; and SO they went smash
Since then in the rich Kurfuerstendamm
has been built gorgeous boarding pal
ace on American lines and now 1t
appears that three similar blocks will
rise, two in Charlottenburg, and the third
in the southwestern suburb, Wimersdorf.
1--WE shall all live in the American way"
says the Local -Anzeiger." In fact, the
American" way in Berlin's conscious
ness Is merely the Manhattan Island
way; and not at all the Brooklyn, Cleve-
land, Denver or San Francisco way.
Thus Americanization goes. First AM
erican ideas. then American customs.
then American things. The last stage
is the production of American wares
in Germany itself. Not so long ago Amer
leans invaded the shoe market, and
established American stores in Ber-
Inns chief streets. The American
style OF shoe beat the German hollow
But now Germans are turning out Amer
ican shoes, and the organ of the Ger
man shoe trade declares that despite inn
port duty, Germans will soon be invad-
ing the American market, and that AM
erican shoes made In Germany will soon
be sold every where between Buffalo and
Florida.
Some Germans do not like Americaniza-
ton. Americanization is decentralization,
they say. The American way is too
graceful, elegant, rich and sumptuous.
And the venerable old Field Marshal
Won der Goitz declares roundly that ''un-
desirable influences from outside, many
of them coming from the other side OF
the Atlantic, are undermining our once
sane and simple Teutonic life
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09
"BLOWOUTS" IN KANSAS
Duststorms That Steal Growing Crops
and the Soil as Well

From the Kansas City Star.
In western Kansas the blowout has
been as great a source of damage TO the
wheat fields as the drouth or chineh
bugs or hot winds. In the event of
drouth there is always soma hope of
rain. with the hot winds there is hope of a
cool spell, while the ravages of the
chinch bugs may be checked in two or
three ways. with the blowout thers
absolutely is no hope left, and not only
is the wheat crop gone for good. but
the ground sometimes is left in bad con-
dition. The blowout is little under
stood by any one except the person who
has witnessed duststorm. Several years
ago the "blowout" was much more COM
mon than now. although there IS some
damage In western countries every year
from this source. The damage comes not
only to the fields that have been blown
out, but the adjoining fields, onto which
the drifting sol'' has blown In great
clouds and settled, have suffered like
wise. and whole pastures have been
known to be destroyed by the same means.
For several years the farmers have been
working night and day to devise soma
method to prevent the damage from the
are more commonly known.
A duststorm is not only unfortunate
but II is unpleasant in the extreme. II
comes up sometimes very suddenly. The
sun may be shining and not a cloud in
sight. In less than five minutes the sun
will be obscured from view and the air
filed with dust, sand, gravel, sticks and
other debris II becomes necessary to
light lamps in the stores and the homes
and in some instances IL is dangerous to
venture out of DOORS The dust in the
air comes from around the roots of tho
wheat plant and in a short time the plant
itself drifts away under the pressure Of
the high wind AT other times the dust
storm comes up gradually. In the west
ern horizon there will be hazy ap-
pearanee, not unlike Indian summer.
Presently il resembles an approaching
storm, but the man who has lived on tho
western prairie for any length of time
knows only too well that storm Is not
probable After a while the sun is hid
den and the duststorm Is on. Duststorms
have continued for three or four days,
not even abating in the evening. when
the wind has settled and the air becomes
pure again ii is as necessary to shovel
paths around the yards and the farms as
after snow storm. In places the dust
will be from 5 to % feet deep and lay
in great drifts.
Sometimes the blowout may only have
affected the crop. and the ground re-
mains uninjured, except that the loose
soil on the surface may be gone. with
the plant. In this event the ground may
be planted to corn If the blowout occurs
early enough In the spring So far as has
been heard there has been no drifting
SOIL storms In the western part OF the
state since the present wheat crop was
planted. and the farmers In that section
are praying that there may be none.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09

are held in Europe He says the i'm
preston as to their American ownership
comes largely from the fact that they
were placed there by New York bankers,
and therefore credited as American in
vestments. He also thinks that the esti-
mate as to American ranches and farms
is too low. 1t should be something Ike
S10000,000, and also that the item of mine
ownership is probably a little too high.
There is no doubt, however, but that our
holdings in Mexico are enormous, and
that they will continue to increase SO
rapidly as to make 1t imperative that the
present state of brigandage and revolu-
tion must be done away with.
Foreigners in Mexico
As to just how many foreigners there
are now living in the Mexican republic,
the number has materially decreased
since the revolution began, several
years ago. 1t then numbered in the
neighborhood of 100000. of which it is
estimated there were from 10000 to
10000 Americans, about 10000 Span
iards and perhaps about 5000 each of
British and Germans. This might now
De cut down TO One-nalI the aDOYe
figures. There are at present here
something like 10000 Guatemalans, 5000
Italians, 800 French and perhaps an
equal number of Cubans.
The Spaniards, who rank second in
number to the Americans, control the
grocery and grain trade of the re-
public. They are also largely profess
sional men and they act as clerks.
bookkeepers and farmers. The French
have the wholesale and retain dry
goods stores. and they own most of the
cotton mills, having in that industry
alone something like s20,000.00o. They
have put more than s3,o00,0OO in to-
bacco factories. The Germans control
the hardware stores and they have
many plantations. The English have
some large mines, big investments in
timber and farms, a large part of the
oil business and many tramways and
electric light plants.s There are many
British sales agents in Mexico, rep
resenting English importing houses.
What Some Americans Do
GU. mighty investments give some
idea of what our people are doing south
of the Rio Grande river. A great num-
Der of those who have investments are
oD the ground to take care of them.
There are hundreds of American miners
and scores of American civil, electrical
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09

spectacle class of Americans who have
skill, money and brains, there are others
from our country of far different type.
We have a few Americans in Mexico who
have left the United States under clouds
OF enc kind or other, and we have some
from over the border who have come in
with chips on their shoulders which they
dare any native to knock off. This is the
type which the Mexican calls the gringo.
He thinks there is no land like the United
States, and is ready to prove it with
fist or revolver. He wounds the feelings
OF the Mexican, who is naturally polite
and he calls him a greaser. 1t is this
class that has had much to do with the
ill feeling between the two countries. The
word greaser should be applied only to the
rough and tough Mexican, who compares
with the better and soberer classes much
as the gringo does with the gentlemanly
American.
There are undoubtedly many bad men
of both nations in the country just now,
and the present conditions of brigandage
and revolution have led to a large in
crease in outrages of one kind or other.
This Is so not only upon the Mexicans,
but upon the foreigners as well. 1 am
told that these outrages in out of the
way places have been far more numerous
than the United States thinks. and that
much greater number of Americans have
been killed than is generally supposed.
Does Mexico Like the American?
This is a. question which is often asked.
II you put 1t to a Mexican gentleman
of the better class he will tell you yes,
and that his country looks to ours for
its development and culture. He will
show you that a large proportion of the
Mexican boys and girls who go abroad
to be educated are sent to the United
States, and that Mexico's trade is greater
with us than with any other nation. On
the other hand, the Mexican is much
like the Russian. II you scratch the
Russian deep enough you will find him a
Tartar. The real Mexican is Spaniard,
and do not believe he likes us. He is
jealous, and he covets our ability to make
money and do big things. He is fright
ened at the preponderance of American
investments, and in his soul he believes
we mean to conquer and take possess
sion of the land. The more you protest,
the greater he thinks is your hypocrisy.
contempt for business and business men.
would rather have government clerk
ship or be one of the hangers-on to a rich
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09
Fighting the An1ericn1ization of Berlin

u ERLIN, March s.-tSpecial) )-Regid
straight Prince Henry of Prussia
- is much dismayed by the Ameri-
canization of Berlin. Since he arrived
home from tranquil Japan. he has dis
covered that the sacred palace quarter
is rapidly being Americanized. That is,
Oh the Spree's banks, near his own palace,
a boarding stood high to protect some
work, and on it glowed gigantic paper
ear. The ear was rosy. irreverent and
tipsy looking, and from distance it
looked more like mere drunkard's nose.
Beneath it famed. "Hoeren Sie?'-Do
you hear?-and all this was an advertise
ment for soap. Henry was displeased
with this extravagant ear; and made the
remark that the Americanization of Ber-
lin is making life sad
And not only Berlin A Hanover news
paper this week appeared with its front
page made up as an ordinary news page;
and big scare heading: 'I<rupp VS.
Bohlen and Holbach offers a Million
Marks Under this was an explanation
that the husband of Bertha Krupp, the
Cannon Queen, had calculated that he
would pay million marks to cure his
headaches. and that Herr Schmidt or Herr
Mueller has an unfailing means to win
the million. Only he doesn't want 1t, as
with true philanthropists money is no OBJ
ject.
In what way this thing is American
the average German doesn't know; but
he knows that 1t is American. Every
thing big, soaring, startling and ingeni-
GUS Is American. And Berlin has become
the biggest, soaringest, startlingest, most
ingenious city in Europe. 1t Is ali quite
new Where 10 years ago Friedrich
strasse and the Potsdamer Platz resem-
bled the liveliest spots in Emporium, Pa,
they nave now come to resemble the live
iiest spots Of Broadway for crowds, street
cars, rebuilding Berlin on German Amer
lean lines. There are no skyscrapers,
because police regulations limit Berlin to
five humble stories, but the new Ger
man department stores are built of steel
on best skyscraper principles Likewise
there Is craze for American art. 1t
started two years ago when Berlin had
an American picture exhibition: and 1t
has degenerated into an universal Gibson
girl craze. In the streets Germans look
as German as ever: but German beauty
has ceased to be a German ideal.
The fancy stores are full of pictures
of impossibly slim and clean-cut,
clean-shaven young men, who kiss inn
possibly American Gibson girls. The
originally German picture postcard
business has been entirely Americanized
as regards Its ideals of beauty. This
craze exists also outside Berlin. The
Augsburger "Abendzeitung" started a
schoolgirl and schoolboy drawing COM
petition to show Bavarian ideals Of
beauty. Sixty out of 40 schoolgirls
sent IN drawings of .the unmistakabi
young american man with the we'll
made chin which we are SO used to-,
while half the boys ideals of feminine
lovellness were either Gibson girls or
German girls modified by Gibson in
fluence'
Innocent Augsburg confines its Amer
lcanism to the pictorial side. Berlin
goes farther and tries to live American
wise. The theatre. concert. and cab
aret are being ousted by what Berlin
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09
Companies Which Own Towns

And then there are some companies
which practically own the public works
of various towns. Such is the Anglo
Mexican Electric company. which has
the Puebla tramway. light and power;
the British company. which owns the
zacatecas light and tramways. the
Canadian one. backed by Mckenzie and
Mann. which owns all the public util-
tiles of Monterey. and also the Mex
lean Light and Power company, which
gets It's power from the falls of the
Neeaxa river and supplies light and
power to the capital. This latter conn
pany has now a capital of S25,000,00
and It's net operating profits are s4.-
100000 a year. The stock is largely
owned in Great Britain.
In addition to these I might mem
tion scores of other industrials the
stock in some of which is very large
ly held in the United States. l am told
that there are something like $780,
100000 worth of Mexican Investments
controlled from Kansas City alone and
that st. Louis, Chicago, Pittsburg and
others of our big financial centers have
capitalists who are Interested TO an
enormous extent. Among the recent or
ganizations is the. Gulf Coast Fruit and
Steamship company, which has large
plantations near the Coatzacoalcos
river, which are now being set out in
bananas. and the Mexico International
Land company. which owns about n
half million acres in Vera Cruz and
Oaxaca.
In conclusion I would say that the
most of these companies are large or
ganizations backed by big capital and
managed on strict business principles.
In addition to them, there are a great
number of fraudulent companies which
have been gotten up to sell stock on
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09

Copyright, 1913, by Frank G.. Car
penter)
Mexico City.
NOES Uncle Sam own Mexico?
The question is startling. But
- 1t Is one which the fingers of
destiny are writing in letters of gold
upon the sky of the financial universe.
The answer Is:
mo. not now. but the time when he
Will own 1t is already in sight"
This Is foregone conclusion, and 1t
is Independent of peace or of war; as
the following figures will show. We
may not flaunt our title in the face OF
the world, and we may keep our con-
trolling partnership silent But the
facts are that we already own two
fifths of all the wealth of this country,
and that il Is a question whether our
possessions are not already greater
than those OF the Mexicans themselves.
have before me table of financial
statistics which was transmitted only
last July to our government at Wash
ington by Consul Marion Letcher of
Chihuahua This gives an itemized
balance sheet of the wealth of Mexico,
according to the nationality of the
owners. Consul Letcher states that his
figures are those of a mining engineer
of long experience in the Mexican re-
public. and that they are based upon
the reports of the Mexican national
and state governments and upon the
directories and reports of business
houses and factories. of mines and
smelters and of the various other in
dustrial companies. banks and finan-
cial institutions.
How Mexico's Wealth is Divided
In this estimate Consul Letcher puts
the aggregate wealth of Mexico at
little under 50. 500, 900, 900. and he shows
Just how the money is divided. classi-
flying the investments as Mexican and
as American, English. French and other
foreign ownerships. OF the s2,500, O00,-
600 he gives more than $1,000 600, 900 al
owned by Americans, and less than
$500. 600 as owned by the Mexicans,
lie puts the possessions of the English
at -$321, 100000. of the French at $143,-
100000 and of all other nations at
little more than $11S,000,000.
Just before the present revolutionary
troubles began American money was roll
ing in here by the tens of millions
month. The flood is now damned back
by the unsettled conditions but when
peace and stability come it will pour in
again. and this proportion, already two
fifths, will rapidly increase to the point
where, considering. Mexico as a capital
lied stock proposition, Uncle Sam viii
own by far the majority of all the stock
of the company. ! leave the question as
to how far this will ultimately control the
politics and government of Mexico to
President Wilson and his Congress and to
the editorial writer
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09

haciendado than mine manager at 5000
a year.
The poems are like the Mexicans. They
are polite, and our bluff ways are dis
agreeable to them. The average Ameri-
can does not understand how to handle
them, and he makes enemies where the
native employer does not.
Some Big Investments in Mexico
Many of our single investments here
run high into the millions. This is so of
the mines and smelters, the latter being
largely owned by the Guggenheims
Some of the most important mining COM
ranies are operated under charters from
American states, and not few have cap
ital stocks running high into the millions
Tine American Smelling and Refining
company is capitalized at $100, 1000 600, and
it has already paid dividends of SIS, ,000 :
900 with a surplus of $1,000 900. The Bato-
pilas Mining company, which has the
properties developed by the late Cover
nor Shepherd, has 100000 of a capitali-
zation, and its surplus is something like
100000. The Greene Cananea Copper
company, which has extensive mines in
Sonora, has an authorized capital of
100000, and its production in 1911 was
over H,000,0oc pounds of copper, while
the Mexican Eagle Oil company, owned
largely by the English, has a capital of
s5o,0000O0 Mexican and promises to pay an
enormous dividend on that amount Az
other big American company is the Mex
ican Petroleum company, whose office is
in Los Angeles. This has an authorized
capital of saS,00O,000 1t owns large oil
properties about Tampico, and also 100000
acres of grazing and agricultural land. It
paid its first dividend of per cent in
1907 and has paid s per cent per annum
ever since.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09
Fishing With Garden Rakes

From Williamsport Pa) Dispatch to
Philadelphia Record
Hundreds OF fish are being taken from
the West Branch OF the Susquehanna at
this place. and scores of people who live
in the vicinity of the river have taken
quantities that will supply their needs Cor.
days. The fish are mostly cells, suckers.
and German and silver carp
They are being taken up by hand, in
nets, and even scooped In with garden
rakes.
upstream, and. seeking shoal waters and
small streams, come to the surface -
large schools.