davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
FINDS ssol IN BOTTLE
II the Leighton News

From the LelsntOn News.
 A lucky find was made on Saturday of last week by the little son of MT. Elbert Wear, blacksmith of Mount Hope. Law renee county. While looking for eggs under the house occupied by his parents. which is known as the McVeagh old place. he noticed a large-mouthed bottle all covered with cobwebs and dust lying upon a sleeper or sill or the house. The bottle was found to be full of gold pieces of various denominations, all bearing dates of about half century ago. The amount totaled even $501.
 The house, which is a very old one. was built long before the civil war. and it is supposed the money was hidden under it during those exciting es. where it has remained undisturbed ever since. There has long been rumor that money was buried on the Mcveagh place. and numer- ous unsuccessful searches have been made for 1t. So far as known, there Is nc claimant for the money except the finder.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
John Bull Can be Sentimental

While his love for facts and devo- ton to truth have given John Bull the reputation of being devoid of sentl- ment the movement of England to nurchase the battlefield of Waterloo and preserve it as a monument or British valor and patriotism removes much of the imputation.
 Next year will be the centenary or that great conflict which ranks among the decisive battles of the world, and so far the field remains unchanged as it did when Wellington wished with a sign that Butcher or night would come.
 The environments of the locality, however, threaten to injure much of the historic field. The extension ot Brussels is covering the neighborhood with cheap residences and hotels of a questionable character, the vantage noints of the conflict are yielding to
 
 the impress of time and the lion which surmounts the pyramid raised by women has alreadY- suffered mutila- l:.- ton in the loss of it's tail. As Water loo is situated neither in England nor France it is intimated that Belgium will not be averse to the project and the idea is likely to materlalize.
 America is more sentimental than her English cousins and she has taken hotter care of her battlefields as pre- cious legacies to posterity, but her hattlefields are located in her own domain and the sentiment which lm- pulses Great Britain to go beyond her borders to preserve monument to valor and love of country demon strates that beneath the varnish of reserve and eXelusiveness with which John Bull is coated there beats heart that is by no means dead to all senti- ment and which can be quickened to appreciation and regard when the oc- casion arises.
 It is extremely probable that when the centenary of Waterloo is ob- served it's celebration will be held in a park that belongs to Great Britain.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
THE EMPRESS COMPANIES

From the Philadelphia Public-Ledger.
 It is curiously inconsistent as a writer in the Boston Transcript points out, that there should be such widespread sym pathy for the United States Express eompany now that it is being forced out of businesss'' by the parcel post, when only a few months ago the ex- press companies were all indiscrim- orpressors of commerce and the insa- tiable bloodsuckers of the domestic transportation field This change in feeling, however, is not a mere incon- sistency it is manifestation of that American spirit of fair play which in variably comes to the surface in behalf of tho victim of unfair competition or of ill-treatment of any sort.
 Tn the case of the express companies there are abundant indications that con dolences are premature. There is still likely to be an ample field for their use full activities. and when the necessary establishments shall have been made it will be seen that the retirement of one company from the field will mean little more than the distribution of the bus inesss among the remaining three. Just as the parcel post opened a field of dis tribution which the express companies dic not touch, represented by the fact that three are in the United States 60.00I postofiices and only 5000 express of fees, so the express companies perform
 II i. postoffice. For example. the business world is not at all likely to overlook tho advantage it has enjoyed in the col lection of packages, the greater cer- tainty of deliveries, the security attend ing the shipment of currency and val uables. the receipts for packages and full insurance, etc., all services which the parcel post cannot give, to make no mention at all of the personal factor in dealing with special cases and ex- .ceptional services. Moreover now that the express companies are striving to adjust themselves to changed conditions an important factor of which is the keen competition in efficiency imposed upon thom by the parcel post itself, the bus mess community has every prospect of a more efficient and cheaper transpor- tation service than it ever before en- jcyed.
 These changes are being brought about in large part by the parcel post. but that institution is not alone responsible. There are other causes at work with which the expanded activities of the pcstoffice have had nothing to do. The close interlocking of ownership between them and the railroads holds out the promise that this important adjunct of the commerce of the nation is by no means doomed to immediate extinction.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24

and France is little better than Sls per 1 cent, and either would strain the re- sources of the money market by the at tempt to borrow one hundredth part of such an amount.
 Here is an example strikingly opposite, although applied to another phase of na- tiona1 borrowing taken from the London Statist:
 Tn this journal we have called the at- tention of our readers not a few times to tho success with which investors during the past year and a. half did check the tendency toward war. The inability of both Austria and Hungary to borrow, even at per cent, any considerable sum of money was an object lesson, which we have no doubt made an immense im- pression upon the fire-eaters everywhere. And that impression was greatly height ened by the failure twice in one year of the German empire and the Prussian kingdom to float the bonds they offered in their own capital. We have had, then, In the recent crisis striking illustrations of the power of finance"
 Nothing could be more dangerous than the idea so many politicians hold that the public credit is illimitable It is strictly limited; and the lender to the United States government is just as insistent that he shall have something tangible be- hind that governments mere word, as the intelligent citizen is in this or any other country, when he discounts fiat money.
 And if to the $a0,0oO. oOo,Ooo is added ad- ditional borrowings up to s100o, 900 an- nually, for absolutely necessary expan- sion, the hopelessness of financing any such problem, except at an enormous loss to even the smallest taxpayer, should be apparent.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
Southern Prosperitx

The south has been a very prosperous section for many years past but it is safe to say that it is enjoying greater prosperity now than ever before" said J. r. Ellington of Philadelphia.
 Tn the east where business had been quiet for some months there are unmis- takable signs of improvement, but the south, full of optimism, is now in splen- did condition, and if the farmers make good crops again this year, this section should have record-breaking boom.
 Birmingham seems to be thriving greatly. When I was here about 10 years ago, I predicted that it was going to be one of the big cities of the United States. from the way 1t is growing now I would say that within the next 20 years it will have population of 10000 or 500, GOO"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
From Cape Cod to the Rio Grande

An unbroken continuity of railroad transit has long been the dream of great exploiters upon both sides ot the Atlantic and each year brings closer to our consideration such pro iects as the railway from Cairo to Cape of Good Hope and the line of steel from Cape Horn to New York.
 The people of the United States, however, are at present more inter- ested in undertakings that effect their home industries than in astounding enterprises. The project of Senator Fletcher of Florida to construct con- tinuous waterway from Cape Cod to the Rio Grande is one that commands an absorbed attention.
 The senator has for five years been president of the Mississippi-to-At lantic Inland Waterways association and has given the closest study to the subject of continuous water routes so that his proposition is not to be re- garded as mere dream.
 The system of the projected route is divided into links, the first of which will extend from New Orleans to the west coast of Florida. The next will run across Florida to the Atlantic and the third link will connect Florida with Boston by means of canal or inland waterway. The western part of the system is partially under opera ton and the pending river and harbor bill carries with it a provision for the sections from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande and from Galveston to the Louisiana state line.
 The Cape Cod canal is now under construction and It's engineers have reported favorably upon it's continu- ance as waterway from Long Island
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
GREAT TRIALS OF HISTORY
TRIAL OF THE DUG DE cHoIsEUL-pRAsL1N

investigation was instantly begun. Ev- erything prove1 that the duchess had at
 tempted to escape from her assassin The first blow had been given while she was in bed. The murderer, necessarily covered with blood must have left traces I of it on his way; and that stained way
 was found to be toward the apartment of her husband. Drops and marks of blood were visible from the door of the duchess' cabinet to the door of the dukes bed- room.
 The duke made a statement on Au- gust IS in which he described how, hav- ing heard a noise in the duchess room, he
 went there and found her lying by the chimney covered with blood He claimed | that the blood carried between the room of his wife and his own was on account of the blood that he had gotten on him. self while coming to the assistance of the duchess.
 At the preliminary examination Char
 penter, the dukes valet, and Margaret Leclerc, a domestic, gave damaging les-s timony against their master. Then came | the examination before the Chancellor Pasquier, president of the chamber of peers. That official earnestly adjured the duke to relieve his mind by frank con- fession of the crime. They also examined
 most carefully Mile. Deluzy as to the re- lations between herself, the duke and the children.
 | When the chancellor asked her if she did not think her actions were most pain full to the duchess, she replied: Quite the reverse. I believe Madame de Praslln
 was more occupied with her feelings about her husband than about her children, whom she scarcely saw, and whom she sent away, when their father was pres ent in order to be alone with him. When he was no longer there, she voluntarily kept herself at distance from the chill dren in order that she mhight use such conduct as a weapon against him in her | reproaches touching his way of manag7 ing their household. She was no doubt jealous even of the attention her hus- band paid to their children" The court of peers, having secured suf- pared the affair for trial in the chamber. Suddenly a report spread that the duke was poisoned-that he was dying-that he was dead. The effect of this news upon the public was beyond description The Due de Praslin expired in the Luxern- burg, whther he had been transferred in the darkness of night to avoid the fury of the populace. He too kpoison after he saw his plans defeated of hiding the mur-
 der
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
PROTECTING THE OYSTERS

From the Mobile Item
 The state of Maryland is again hav- ing trouble with it's oystermen over the enforcement of new laws for the protection of the oyster fisheries. There is strong opposition to the regulations with regard to the planting and preser- vation of the oysters, and the authori- ties are coming in for a great deal of abuse.
 The Baltimore Evening Sun depre- cates this attitude of the fishermen and says: "The time will surely come when their eyes will be opened to their folly. The only thing they can do is to de- lay their own prosperity and increase their own difficulty in making a liv- ing. Why should the oysetrmen conspire against themselves? There is no other business proposition concerning them- selves or the public with regard to which they would be so blind, for, in general, they are a shrewd, hard-h head ed set of men. If they succeed in crip- bling oyster culture this year at Ann apolis. they will hurt themselves even more than they will the state"
 Louisiana is having no trouble In protecting it's great oyster fisheries, although the time may come," says the New Orleans Picayune. 'rnless all precautions are now strictly enforced, when we will,o confronted with the same troupies that are now convulsing Chesapeake Bay. The demand for Louis- lana oysters must of necessity con- stantly increase, and the supply, un- less carefully conserved and watched will be encroached upon."
 The Mississippi legislature last week voted $26,000 of the state funds for the use of its oyster commission in preserv- ing the shell fish supply. In that state precautions gre being taken similar to those of Louisiana and the oyster laws are being rigidly enforced.
 The experience in Maryland and tho strengthening of oyster protective measures in Mississippi and Louisiana should induce opponents of oyster pro- tection in Alabama to go slow The laws of this state are not nearly as severe as those of Louisiana, or tho protective measures proposed for Mary land, and Alabama oystermen have facilities of operation denied to the oystermen of those states. It is prob able that there are rough places in the Alabama law which neeed smooth ing out, but this can be accomplished without wrecking the entire law and losing the enforcement of conservation which the principal oyster producing states haye folnd ueceasary
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
TOMORROw-TRIA AL OF DIR. JAMESON
SEEN IN THE SOUTH

From the New York World
 If anybody ever wants to fight a third battle of Bull Run. the trip from Wash ington to Manassas Junction can be made by trolley. Bull Run was bubbling even with it's banks from a spring floods. A small stream with great fame {
 Alexandria, where George Washington went to church, is getting out of it's de- cay and becoming smart suburb of Washington. New houses in new districts hide the ancient town.
 The peaks behind Thomas r. Ryan's Virginia country seat were white with snow yesterday morning. The drifts were still deep in the woods. The south nas had long winter
 The Confederate monument at Manas- sas Is the ugliest ever It seems rough .o suffer and die for such memorial
 Georgia is revellng in the illicit joys of statewide prohibition law. The clubs thrive for the privileged, and 'near-beer'' IS retailed to soothe the populace Jack sonville, handily situated near the Geor- gia border of Florida. holds out a com forting, if uncertain hand It has taken over the Hast Georgia Sunshine whisky
 ". ""i c'ei pe oiiereu TOT Sale and tenders the limited remained to Atlanta. l2 full quartes, for sl0O
 The mule continues to be the south's most industrious denizen. Atlanta is a mule center. The mule buyers support a big hotel at the stock yards.
 Gaffney is the name of an importo If station on the South road in South Caro- lima. Suggested thoughts of home ana Jim.
 Atlanta is in county with 300 miles Of soo1 roaos that are really good. Six hum dred state convicts built them.
 The southern cities are all stretching their joints. Birmingham thinks 1t IS to become 5O0,ooo town and Jacksonville IS planning for the same dimensions Alexandria advertises six railroads and five steamship lines
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
D0 bloodier or more inexcusable mur- der is recorded in the pages of his-

M der is recorded in the pages of his- \ tory than that of the Duchess of Praslin by her husband, the Duke de Choiseul-Praslin. In a measure 1t was one of the principal causes that led to the French revolution of 1s4s. Every vice of the time was traced to the aristocracy. The people looked upon the nobility as the cause of all their trouble. They watched with suspicion every act of this class which tended to recklessness and immortality. The nation was in this state when the Duke of Praslin murdered his wife. She was a woman of most excellent accom- plishments. The interest in the trial ex- cited much attention in this country, for the reason that the governness of the Praslin family left Paris shortly after the York.
 The old blood-royal of France flowed in the veins of the Choiseul-Praslin fam fly. The duo who brought disgrace upon the name was born in 1895, and at the age of 20 he married Fanny, a daughter of Count Sebastiani, a distinguished French general. The duo and duchess had by the union three sons and six daughters
 For some years before the murder grave discord had arisen between the pair. One serious cause of quarrel was said to be the influence which the governess of his daughters, Mile. Deluzy- -Desportes, had gained over the duo. The duchess objected to the continuance of this lady in the family, and particularly complained os her estranging from her the affec- tions of her daughters
 At last the governess was compelled to quit, but instead of leaving Paris shc took up quarters nearby the Praslin home, where she was frequently visited by the due
 On Aufust r, 1s47. the Praslin family moved from their country residence, where they had been spending the sum- mer, to their superb Paris home in the Rue du Faubourg St. Honore. After their went to visit the former governess, and upon their return the father retired to h1s room about Il o'clock.
 The duchess was also out during the evening and returned to her home anc went to her room about 930. She dis missed her maid. Her body was dis covered the following morning early near the chimney of her room pierced with about 40 wounds. The news spread like wildfire and all Paris was excited. An
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Buildinw nrsnch Rnaa

We secured contract the other day from tho Louisville and Nashville for building five miles of road from Talla- dega Springs, on the Birmingham Mineral, to a marble quarry said Capt. E. J, Dunn of Dunn & Iallande Brothers.
 Alabama marble is in great demand and is being used extensively in many northern cities. I am not acquainted with the men or interests developing this new quarry, but there seems to be practically an unlimited supply of mar ble. Whenever the Louisville and Nash. vile builds branch line to promote any industry it is a sure sign that the busi- ness has good foundation.
 Business conditions are improving, and I am optimistic enough to predict great activity in the Birmingham dis trict this year"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
The Real Constructive Issue

The time has come for all candi-
 dates for seats in the lower and up- per houses of the Alabama legislature to express themselves in regard to the real issue, the real constructive issue of the present campaign, that is, the
 abolition of the convict lease system. On the ground of humanity, there
 is no question but that every right thinking man, woman and child of Alabama is opposed to the idea of inn
 prisoning felons in mines of more or less danger to life and limb. There are those, however, who hesitate to reply
 after having considered the finances involved When Jefferson county, little Commonwealth within itself, took it's convicts out of the mines and put them to work on the public highways, everybody in the state admitted that if the innovation could prove success ful in Jefferson, it could prove sue cessful in the state as whole. The innovation in this county has proved successful. Everywhere roads which were bad are becoming good.
 Bridges are being constructed. Mac adam highways are being builded. The laborers are happy with their lot. The cost of maintenance, in a comparative sense, is small. The loss of revenue, in the long run, will not be missed
 The same conditions would prevail throughout the state. Every day peo- ple are more and more coming to real ize the absolute necessity of good roads. Highways affording easy travel not only enhance the value of prop erty, they increase profits on agricul- tural products. They put the school house in easy access of rural com- munities. They form an easy connect ing link between the farmer and the merchant, the doctor and the lawyer. They are essential to peace and hap piness, and are worth in dollars and cents a sum which cannot be over esti- mated.
 The "standpatter" in Alabama won ders, however, how the state could ex- ist without it's revenue from the con- vict department. This problem is all that can stand in the way. It is not nrebleffN It is aif, excuse, ali expla- nation which the man who opposes progress may offer in extenuation for an unwise action. Forget that feature. It will take care of itself. We will be investing a dollar in ready money to- day which on tomorrow will be re- turned with interest.
 And is it not true that in compara- lively recent years large sums of money made out of the sweat and blood and bone of human beings-oft- en condemned to terrible deaths with out sufficient cause-have been squan- dered through mismanagement and lost through knavery?
 The time has come for the candi- dates to answer. Every county in Ala bama should make sure that it elects men to the legislature pledged to re- move the blotch from the body of the state-the blotch of the lease system, relic of the ages when things were dark and cruel
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
PANAMA HYMN

From the Atlantic Magazine. a We join today the east and west. The stormy and the tranquil seas . rather, be the bridal blest, The earth is on her knees. Thou Thou didst give our hand the
 might ~ To hew The hemisphere in twain And level for these waters bright
 The mountain with the main In freedom let tho great ships ro
 On freedoms errand sea to sea The oceans rise. the hills bend low Servants af liberty E The nations here shall flash tbrcu.n
 foam And paint their pennons with the sun I'll every harbor is a home And all the flags are one. We join today the east and west
 The stormy and the tranu,}I seas o Father. be the bridal bIest,
 Earth waits 1t on her knees.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
NOT FACING DEATH l the Chicago News.

Olive and Gerald while out walkins met a vicious bulldog. and Gerald's conduct in the next few moments left much to be desired. When they had safely passed Olive turned to Gerald and said reproach- fully:
 Why Gerald! And you said you would face death for me-"
 T know I did." answered Gerald. 'and I mean 1t. But that bulldog wasn't dead"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24

When Sheriff Ahern of Sacramento coun- ty California, went forth with his posse to shoo away General Kelly's army he found that what is left of the organiza- ton had bought an acre of land to camp on and wouldn't budge an inch
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP
From the Wall Street Journal.

Government ownership of the railroads is always predicted. by the politicians on the assumption that this country could borrow, presumably out of the blue sky. go. coo. .Oo0,000 to pay for them. at an in terest of per cent. This is in face of the fact that the credit of Great Britain
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24
TROUBADOUR AND JESTER
A ROYAL FLUSH.

Won't you please, dear Walter.
 Let King George get his breath? You know you hadn't ought to Tickle him to death. Take a theme less funny
 Than doctrine of Monroe; Talk about our money
 Or Ulster embroglio. Talk about our baseball.
 Or the Kaiser's daughters gal; But never let a pun fall
 On the Panama canal. Listen to us, Walter;
 By our advice abide, For with another joke like that
 You'll be a regicide.