davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16
MIDDLE CLASS REVOLT STIRS EUROPE

Copyright, 1913, By Curtis Brown)
Y 7 JENNA, November 15.-(special)
" Europe is made up of two
classes-millionaires and middle
class" This remark has just been made
at Brunn, in Mqravia, by a speaker at Il
meeting of tradesmen convoked to protect
against capitalist oppression" The capi-
talist oppression condemned was not the
oppression of the very poor by the rich
and middle class, but the oppression of
the middle class by the rich. 1t was
q meeting of the "NIittelstand," the mid
Ole class tradesmen, who just now all
over Austria and Germany and in PARIS
of Russia, are making tremendous fuss
over the alleged crushing to death by
capitalistic undertakings of all enterprises
OF moderate size. The basis of this Nit
telstand" movement is a demand for
drastic state interference; and for penal
ties. prohibitions, and punitive taxation
for all persons who, In their commercial
operations. exceed certain limits of size.
In addition the "Mittelstanders," as they
are called, are demanding state interfer-
ence against intrusion from below; and
are doing everything they can to prevent
the laboring class pushing it's way into
their sacred field. No month passes with
out middle class meetings being held
somewhere in Germany or Austria, and
all these meetings have the same fea-
tures-violent denunciation on the side
OF capitalists, proprietors of big CONNER
cial undertakings, of departmental stores,
cooperative societies, men who sell goods
on large scale by post, and on the other
side denunciation of unskilled, unframed
laborers who push their way into the
skillful occupations. And every middle
class meeting concludes with resolutions
demanding that the state shall check all
competition from above or below which
threaten the interests of men of moderate
wealth.
The middle class revolt is primarily an
economic revolt, for it's concern is the
pocket interest of a particular class. But
st is allied with both politics and religion.
II IS mostly conservative; always vio-
iently anti-Semitic, and often, especially
in south Germany, Catholic-clerical. Ger.
man and Austrian conservatives differ
from conservatives In other countries ir
being strongly prejudiced against CAPT
tsl. They approve of capital In land
but have an anmus against banking
against the bourse, and against othel
economical institutions which are sup
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

nary industrial tax. A store which runs
several branches each dealing in differ
ent groups of goods must pay per cent
OF the turnover, irrespective of the
amount. The tax is proving effective.
FROM 1870 to 1900 the number of de-
partmental stores with a 100000 turn
over increased from to 67 since 1900
they have increased only from 81 to 80.
In Bavaria, Saxony and Wurttemberg
the 'Mittelstanders' had the same sue
cess. In some cases the tax is levied by
the municipalities, and In one case the
amount is even devoted to lessening
the taxation on the small tradesmen.
That is the chief achievement of thu,
middle class movement so far. IT ex-
poets more In particular the complaint
Is made that the big men have the au-
dacity to charge small profits, and this
most of all hits the small man. The
present demand is to tax the percentage
of profit, and the smaller the profit
made by the big store on its turnover.
the bigger must the tax be. The real
intent of this demand is to tax the big
stores out of existence. Austrian Nit
telstanders' are more frank: they re-
quire that departmental stores should
be forbidden altogether. At a recent
Vienna meeting the small storekeepers
demanded that goods be divided into
eight classes, and that 1T be made n
one group. For one man or corporation
to sell at the same time clothing and
furniture would be a misdeneanor. Ev-
cry trader should henceforth take out
certificate stating the goods in which
he has a right To trade.
These projects have no chance of be-
coming law. but they illustrate the ex-
treme jealousy of enterprise which Is at
the bottom of the middle class movement.
and also make 1t clear why the movement
works hand In hand with agrarian anti
Semtism The association with the Cath
olic parties in Austria and Germany has
different source. In Vienna. the late
Herr Lueger practically built his unex-
ampled power on the votes of the small
Catholic shopkeeper; and In Germany the
Catholic party very largely represents the
provincial tradesrnan, DR.. SPAIN. One OF
the leaders of the Catholic center in the
Reichstag, made some years ago. a speech
in which he practically accepted all mid
die class legislative demands. In Russia
in April, the middle class movement was
inaugurated by the Moscow merchant,
Kulebsky. Middle class agitators were
received by NJ. Timasheff. the minister of
commesee, who gave them small hope. He
pointed out that the chief rivals of the
small tradesmen We're the officials and
officers cooperative stores, and added
that against these the state would not
intervene.
The middle clsDs movement is opposed
by some on the ground thai the real COM
petitors are not the big business men, but
+ fhe small men themselves. NJ. Timashef{
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16
By BASIL LAMBERT

merged nine years ago in a larger
body. the "Deutsche Mittelstand Verein-
igung;' and to this was Joined the
Bond of Handworkers," which agitates
for the exclusion of ambitious, un-
trained men from the skilled trades.
These big associations, and the local
middle-class societies, have great in
fuence on elections, and that has
brought them some legislative sue
cesses. Some years ago they forced tho
Prussian government to impose heavy
taxes on the hated departmental stores.
and to put practically stop to the in
crease in these enterprises.
This was done by the warehouse law
of 1900. This law avowedly had the
aim of helping the small, unsuccessful
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

the cables hick finger"

Mr.. Cooper began this work many
years ago. He had already made q good
record as an engineer in COP section
with electrical work in Jamaica, with
a great power plant In Brazil and with
the completion of the water power plant
at Niagara. He had installed the tur-
bines at McCalls Ferry. Pa, when his
attention was called to the possibility
of damming the Mississippi river at
keokuk, through data sent out by the
Keokuk and Hamilton Water Power
company. To this data was added the
statement that all that was required
for the work was a really big man with
score of million dollars behind him.
The data interested Mr.. Cooper. lie
came here and looked over the ground.
He then had his engineers survey the
field and he himself digested millions
of figures which the war department
had made regarding this part OF the
river. He then came to Keokuk. ana
after careful investigation decided tina {
the job could be done If he could get the
money.
Then came the rub. IL is said that
there is only one thing more conserve
tive than s1,000.000 and that is $4,000
600. But Mr.. Cooper needed, not $4,000
600, but something like s20.00O.00o, and
lHtIG WIS IOt IL uOlldr III SlSnI. tie
went to New York and Philadelp
and Boston. but money was tight and
capital timid. He kept on tile job. being
turned down 3S times and was at last
in despair. am told he would have
then given up the work had II not been
that his wife at the last moment urged
him to try once more. He did try, and
succeeded Altogether something like
$25,000.000 in stocks and bonds has been
put into the works and the present
owners are from a dozen different parts
of the world A minor part OF the stock
is owned here in KeolSuk great deal
is owned in Boston and New England.
and some is the property of investors
In Canada, England, France and Bel
gium.
Just what the company is stocked at
and what Is it's bonded Indebtedness I
do not know, and there is but little
doubt that 1t will eventually pay good.
fat dividends for all time to come II
has an enormous market for its power,
and its great transmission lines will be
feeders to branch lines carrying this
river of electricity into score of cities.
The lines so far built are to Burlington.
Ia, and to st. Louis. and / understand
that these. with their feeders, will prob
ably consume all the horsepower avail
able.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

tCopyright, 1913, by f. G. Carpenter.)
keoRuk, La November
II HAVE stopped of here on my way
from st. Paul TO New Orleans to see
- the Mississippi river In harness. That
rampageous old water-broncho has been
lassoed by the cowboys of modern prog
ress, and she is now plugging away
doing work like a cart-horse. She is al
ready running the street cars and many
of the mills and factories OF st. Louis
which city is more than 100 miles off, and
she will soon have the wheels moving
over a vast district right here In the
very heart ofthe nation.
Think Of dropping a force equal to 2oo,-
900 horses, all pulling at once, right out
of the skies into the center of one of the
busiest populations on earth. That is
what has been done by the Keokuk power
plant Talk of the palace of Aladdin and
the slaves of the lamp The Aladdin of
the Mississippi valley Is Hugh l.. Cooper,
the engineer who conceived and built the
Keokuk dam, and the slaves of his lamp
are the waters of this great river, which
for ages and ages will now go on laboring
day and night for the nation.
/ wish L could impress upon you the
nature OF the country in which this
power has been created This is the heart
of the Mississippi valley, where the land
is worth $500 and upward per acre, and
where a single crop, that Of corn, brings
in upward of a thousand millions of dol
lars every year. 1t is a country peppered
with cities and towns and gridroned with
railroads. Ii is "a land where there are
at fg
the people have so much money that the
surpluses of the country banks would
make old Croesus look sick. 1t Is a land
of energy and industry. and right here IN
the heart of it, out of a force which for
ages has been running to waste, has
jumped into being one of the greatest
electric power plants known to man.
You have heard the old riddle "Why
can't you dam the Mississippi river?"
+ The answer is: why, dam it you can't
( Well, that riddle is no good any longer
/ The Mississippi has been damned here at
the foot of the Des Moines rapids, and
I walked today over the great structure
OF concrete, almost a mile long, which
holds back the water and gives a steady
flow for the creation of power the year
through. The damming was made posi-
BILE by the nature of the valley at this
point. Here the bluffs that wall the
river are closer than at any other point
in It's entire length, and the confgura-
tion of the valley is such that the waters
can be held back without overfowing
thousands of farms. AT the same time
they give fall which IN the distance
of u miles above the dam measures 90
feet. 1t is this fall that gives the power.
The waters Of the Mississippi come down
at times at the rate of over one-half
million cubic feet per second, and the
gam throws them into mighty turbines,
each of which viii generate a power
equal to q line of two-horse teams 70
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

guarded by gate. The water so strikes
the wheel that 1t has a spiral motion. and
as the turbine flies around II in turn
moves the generator above, producing a
continuous current of electricity equal TO
10000 horsepower, or to the force of 10000
horses all pulling together. When the
works are completed there will be 80
of these great turbines and their genera
tors and their aggregate force will be
more than 100000 horsepower. Each of
these generators creates enough electri-
city to light an automobile road around
the world, and altogether they would
keep bright a milky way from the earth
to the moon.
delicacy of this massive machinery. A
single turbine weighs 10000 pounds and
the wheel and the machinery above 1t.
all of which rest on a single bearing.
weigh more than a half million pounds.
Think of balancing $50 tons on a single
bearing, and making 1t work with the
uniformity and exactness of a watch and
you have some conception of this tur-
bipe construction.
Moreover, the whole is so carefully reg
ulated that the machinery automatically
produces just the amount of power !e-
quired. Dr. Barr tells me that few
tons of more or less work at any point
along the line Will affect the genera
tors producing 1t. He says that whenever
woman stops a street car In st. Louis
the effect of that stoppage is felt. and
the regulation changed here in this power
plant more than 100 miles away. When
the street car stops the speed of these tliT-
bines becomes infinitesimally slower. and
when its starts again they increase. The
general regulation is done by the water
load which is regulated by raising or
lowering the gates to the dam. and auto
maticaily by a sensitive governor, which
is connected with machinery so fine that
the turbines are regulated to the exact
amount of their load. This work is the
result of experiments which cost alto
gether about s2.000,000 to bring about he
present perfection.
Indeed, a great deal of the machinery
at Keokuk was invent ed for this power.
plant and the turbines and much of the
other machinery were made after plans
which many engineers said could not
work They are all either the choice or
the invention of Mr.. Hugh [. Cooper.
the engineer in chief, and, I might say,
the originator and creator of the plant.
IL was his master mind which not only
designed the construction, but Invented
much of the machinery for carrying Il
out
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

man by striking at the big successful
man. 1t made it practically an offence
for a single individual or corporation n
to trade in many things at the same
time. The law divided into four groups
everything which is sold in retail stores
and provided that any single store
which traded in more than one of these
groups must, If it's annual turnover ex =
ceeded 100000, pay punitive tax. The
small store may trade in as many
groups as 1t pleases. But If big store
trades at the same time in, say, food
and clothes. it is penalized. The puni-
tive tax is heavy. 1t rises from l per
cent of the turnover. which is a big
percentage on the proportionately small
profits of stores, to per cent where
the turnover is more than s250,000. The
tax may rise to 20 per cent of the ordi-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

class organiza tions In the empire; and
about half that number in Austria. The
bond" demands special punitive taxes
on all large trading companies that
compete with the small stores; demands
that the present industrial tax (gewer-
besteuer) shall be made progressive So
as to penalize big businesses and de-
mands further measures against de-
partmental stores, against stores with
many branches, and against officers
and officials cooperative supply socie-
ties 1t also asks for many other mea-
sures, some of which are ingeniously
devised to prevent any business grow
ing beyond moderate limits.
The bond of trades and occupations''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

nor can one appreciate that the white
palace of concrete right under us covers
almost as much space as the great build
ing of the library of Congress at Wash
ington. 1t is only when we climb down
the hundreds of steps and tramp our legs
tired in going through the miles of con-
struction that we realize that these things
are so.
Across the river we can see the great
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

miles in length. The turbines are con-
nected with dynamos which generate the
electricity, and the 100000 of horses thus
made go flying over great copper ca
bles to do their work for man. This,
IN a nutshell. is what damming the Mis-
sssippi means.
And now to the dam at the works. I
have seen something of the great dams Of
the world. L have tramped through the
great locks at Panama, and watched the
construction of the mighty dam at Gatun
The locks are of concrete and earth [
have seen the great dam at Assouan 700
miles above the Mediterranean, which
holds back the Nile, and gives Egypt a
regular water supply throughout the year
That dam is built of granite, laid in ce-
ment. 1t is only about a third again as
long as this dam at Keokuk, which is
made of concrete, and it's construction is
just about the same. Both dams look like
great stone viaducts built across the
river. Each is wall through which great
sluices are cut allowing the river to flow
through or to be held back at will. Each
suice of the Keokuk dam has a spillway,
much like the great spillway at Gatun,
and this is regulated by a gate which can
be raised and lowered to allow the river
to go on or be held back as the engineers
will. The dams are thus great stone
walls pierced by these gates
In the Assouan dam the water never
flows over the top but through the gates
and through a canal at the side. When
the gates are closed enough water is held
back to form a lake 14O miles long and
the amount of water thus held weighs
more than one thousand million tons. At
100 tons to the car it would take nearly
1O000,00O cars to carry that water, and
il you loaded 1t all on one solid train, the
cars would form a line reaching more
than three times around the earth. or
fully one-third OF the distance between
here and the moon. At flood time the
volume of the Nile is SO great. if it all
could be impounded, that 1t would fill that
lake in day. The volume of the Missis-
sippi here is far less in flood times, be-
ing only a bagatelle compared with that
of the Nile
And still the works at Keokuk are moro
wonderful than those at Assouan, a S to
the work they are doing in the Industrial
world. The Assouan dam is an irrigation
proposition. 1t has added q million and Il
half acres of tillable land to the Nile val
ley and has created a property worth
many millions The Keoltuk dam is a
power plant. 1t is a creator of working
force. and when the whole plant is COM
pleted it viii have cost $250O0,0OO It Will
then have a potentialitv equal to that OF
$4,000 horses and its owners will soon be
ready to put 100000 horsepower on the
market. They have already sold 10000
horsepower to st. Louis, having made
contract to furnish that much for the pc
riod of 90 years. and they are now ready
to supply the factories and other Indus
tries OF the country about.
In addition to the electric plant itself,
the Keokuk Power company as COM
pensation to the United States for the use
of the river. has. according to it's con-
tract with the government. built here a
lock canal. and q dry dock for the use of
the public. The canal enables river ves-
sells of all sizes to pass up and down the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

generators. Each of these is as big
as haystack, and 1t rests over and
is set in a great well of concrete and
steel, Is feet in diameter. This we'll con-
tains the mighty turbine water wheel,
which is moved by the force of the Mis-
sissippi The water Is admitted to each
turbine by four different openings, each
of which is protected by a screen and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16
eokuk dam with power plant at the r light

ship through the great locks at Gatun
This lock was put into operation within
As minutes after it was completed, 1ad
the first ship was worked through 1t in
less than 10 minutes. The Keokuk lock
is wider than the locks at Gatun. It is
not so long as the Mississippi steamers
are short. The actual dimensions are:
Width 10 feet length on the inside, 400
feet; lift, 40 feet, with concrete walls So
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1913-02-20
unCOulted Years Old.

The work of the Udited States
Geological Survey in paleontology
the study of fossil remains of
animals and plants that lived
ages ago-has a distinct bearing
on some of the very practical
economic problems of today.
The descriptive paleontologic
reports are often treated as ''pure
SCIENCE" yet instructive, strik-
ing, or tedious as may be these
delineations of the groups of ami
NAL or plant life which lived on
the globe in some particular
epoch, there is not one Of these
papers describing the fauna or
flora of a formation that does not
prove sooner or later to possess
practical value and to be essential
to geology in its constantly in
creasing refinement of study and
results. Without paleontology
the geologic classification of for
nations, their correlation, anC
the determination of their mutua
relations would be impossible
In fact, real and symmetrical
progress in geology is impossible
without corresponding interre
lated development and refine
ment Of its handmaid paleonto
logy. The study of the economic
geology of any region of com
plicated structure is blind and in
consequent unless the time re
lations of the strata concerned
are known. These relations ar
indicated by the fossils whicl
the strata contain.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1913-02-20

the fresh outbreak were passed,
but the government apparently
is determined that not a word of
the fighting which has torn the
city asunder for eight days shall
be communicated to the outside
world if that can be prevented.
That this government will not
intervene, is contained in the fol-
lowing:
At a meeting Of the cabinet
various dispatches from Mexico
were considered and it was de-
cided that the information so far
received affords no basis for a
change in the policy of the gov
ernment of the United States al
ready indicated many times in
the last two years.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1913-02-20
Serious Fighli6g in hexicO.

While the federal guns pound
ed the Diaz guns in the arsenal
and the rebels sent back shell
for shell, the senate set and dis
cussed the ousting of Madero
from the presidency.
Confident of ultimately defeat
ing Diaz, Madero defied the SEN
ate and ignored the counsel of
Francisco De Ia Barra and other
friends. He refused to resign,
but did not take the trouble to
make known his decision person
ally to the senate.
The fighting in the streets of
the Mexican capital at various
times today was as savage as en-
any other day of the week S
fighting.
The strictest censorship of all
dispatches has been established
in Mexico City. Government
officials took charge of The cable
office shortly after 5 o'clock Sun.
day evening and discarded mes
sages of correspondents to the
papers. Code messages and al
messages containing any express
Isions whatever that might be
construed as = a sign of the i'm
portant happenings in the capita
were coniscated.
Nevertheless several dispatche!
of a somewhat detached nature
escaped censorship, and an earl!
bulletin was flashed through tina
the armistic, signed at 2 o'clocl
Sunday morning, had been bro
ken and that both sides wer'
fighting savagely.
Brief dispatches giving a gen
eral idea of the situation prior t.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1913-02-20

the Occur d'Alene and Bitter
Root mountains. Over the
southern portion there was a
good snow supply in the noun
tains except in the Owyhee
range and near the eastern
boundary of the state, while in
the lower valleys the ground was
bare or only lightly covered.
There was more than the usual
amount of drifting, partly due
to an excess of wind. Slides
were infreouent. In some Sec
tions there was sufficient warmth
and rain to settle the snow into
a compact mass, while elsewhere
continued low temperature pre-
vented satisfactory packing.
The present prospect is for a
somewhat deficient water supply
in the Bear and upper Snake
rivers, the various streams of
the Lost river region, and the
streams rising in the Owyhee
mountains; a normal flow in the
Big Wood, Boise, Payefte and
Weiser and Clearwater rivers
and the streams of the Pan
handle.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1913-02-20
Depth of SNOW in Idaho, Jan. 81

The precipitation for the month
was deficient except in the north
ern part of the state, but owing
to the prevalence of cold weather
most of the precipitation was in
the form of snow, so that the
average snowfall for the state
was, with one exception, the
greatest on record. The excess
of snowfall was most pronounced
in the north end Of the state,
while in the extreme eastern and
southern portions there was a
slight deficiency. The close of
the month found the entire
northern and central portions
covered by a blanket of snow,
ranging in depth from about
five inches at Lewiston, to ten
feet or more at tie SUBMITS Of