davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
BLAMING THE NEWSPAPERS

From the New York World.
 The wholesalers of food in New York who have communicated to Commits
 sioner Hartigan the surprising infor- nation that the newspapers are respon- sible for high prices should be ques- tioned further. Perhaps the newspapers are responsible for the war in Flu
 rope, for the paralysis of ocean conn
 merce for the deadlock on exchange and credit and for the eclipse of the sun.
 When no other excuse for calamity
 suggests itself 1t is always easy to blame the newspapers. If crime be- comes rampant, the newspapers are guilty, because they tell about it. IT official and business life shows signs of corruption, the newspapers are to be charged with the evil, for by them 1t is revealed. So when a lot of food pirates are caught red-handed. who but the newspapers could have put greed and malice into their wicked souls? In all this world there is no crime so dangerous, no wrong so vicious. no liniustice SO unconquerable and no dis ga se 90 deadly as those which are con- lcealed. Error and vice and oppression arc always we'll satisfied with things
 as they are. Their first defense when
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25

tions in home territory. In latter years, however, competition in this country has become so keen in most lines that the wide-awake man of business can TO longer ignore oppor- tunities for handsome remuneration presented by foreign trade.
 Our shrewd business leaders have become accustomed to swift and brilliant moves in the business game and to rich and quick returns, but once having acquired an important advan- taec American business interests hold on with characteristic determination. It will be a "slow" concern, indeed, which can fail to appreciate the sig nificance of the simultaneous opening of the Panama canal and the tempo rary paralysis of European shipping and commerce. The "watchful wait ing" period has past, and~now is the time for quick action on the part of the government as well as shipping and commercial interests of the United States.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
Why England Fights

F. Ashmead Bartlett, war corre- snondent of the London Daily Tele- graph, contributes to that paper some interesting opinions about the present war in Europe. "We have not en- tered into this war to hold back the German invasion of Belgium and France" says MT. Bartlett. We en- tered into it to obtain the lasting peace which will remove forever from our shores and from the frontiers of our allies the constant dread of a sudden invasion, and which will enable us to curtail in a drastic manner the inn mense sums of money we are yearly obliged to spend on military arma- ments, expenditures which must in the future, according to the settled opin- ion of practically all leading econo- mists of the age, reduce all nations in Europe to a state bordering on bank ruptcy. To obtain this result the military autocracy of Germany must be crushed once and for all. We have no wish to injure the German people. We have no wish to upset the equit- able balance of power in Europe. We have no grudge against the Germans; we are merely asking them to set their house in order and to live and let live"
 To bring about this state of affairs, MT. Bartlett thinks, the Kaiser will have to be eliminated and the power of Germany's military regime so weakened that she will be forced to accept humiliating terms of peace. France will insist on the Rhine as the line of her new frontier, Belgium must have compensation for the vio- lation of her neutrality and England must demand the surrender of Ger mahy's entire fleet since without the surrender or destruction of it, any peace would be hollow sham"
 There can be little doubt but that the present struggle in Europe is a "war to the death," and the Kaiser's defeat may mean the dawn of consti- tutional government in Germany. Whether it will result in lasting peace and security for Europe is problem atica. It is a trifle early yet to make predictions. One thing, however, is certain. Germany will have to be whipped and whipped badly before sh
 will turn over her navy to England.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
A Birmingham official Talks

I think The Age-Herald should start a boom for Birmingham as the proper place for the peace parleys of the Euro- pean nations when they find they have spilled enough blood,' said Seudder Ryall, secretary of the city commission, yester- day" I don't think there is a doubt but what the peace parleys will be held in this country, for there will be no other neutral place to go, and Birmingham might as well have the advertisement as Smithville, Ark, or Podunk, Mont.
 Tt looks>to me asaf the Germans were going to push through and take Paris, the French pass on and take Berlin, while Russia and Austria stand and growl at each other and the rest perform acrobatic stunts of various kinds Then after they have come to dead fall, they'll ship their envoys over to the United States and let them sign treaty. I have my doubts as to whether any of the nations at war are going to gain a decided victory"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
\ Bright Outlook

Business in the United States was get ting in fine shape when the European war broke out, and had it not been for the hostiities commercial and industrial cir cles would be more active than at any time in several years past" said R. F. Warren of Chicago.
 "The United States government has handled the situation remarkably well and business conditions are now becom- ing normal again. The war will probably last for sometime, but there is a general feeling in Chicago that American pros- perity will not be materially interfered with. There was more business activity in evidence last week than there was the week before, and I believe that by the middle of September or October 1 at the latest this country will be enjoying gen. uine boom''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
The Merchants, Convention

1T think there will be fully 15OO Ala bama merchants in Birmingham by Wednesday to attend the second annual convention of the Merchants associa- tion," said member of the Chamber of Commerce.
 'The fact that several hundred have already arrived is certainly a good sign of Birmingham's drawing power. There will be 1000 members of the association here by Tuesday night. and several hun dred will arrive Wednesday. No large gathering that assemblies in this state is more cordially received than the Ala bama Merchants association when it con venes. oA fine programme has been ar- ranged for Wednesday and Thursday Many important subjects will be dis cussed, and the social features of the occasion will be very enjoyable"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25

From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
 Slowly but surely the German lines were driving the allied forces back across the border. A brilliant change made by the uhlans had crumpled an entire battalion of French troops and the German artil- lery held the British infantry at bay. In the distance a military aeroplane was dropping bombs into the trenches occu- pied by sharpshooters. The conflict waged for nearly an hour.
 An aide e-de-camp rode out from the Ger man field headquarters and addressed the general in command:
 "The boss says thatll be enough for today" announced the aide-de-camp. Put the cameras in his auto and take them over to HaclSensack. And tell the boys to all be here at in the morning. We're going to start the siege of Liege film'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
Financiers and Statesmen

Every day brings added popularity to the Wilson administration. In the stress and strain of business prob lems growing out of the European war the democratic party has won and will continue to win encomiums for the business-like way it reckons with the situation and disposes of pressing questions.
 Every President, no matter whether he was republican or democrat, has had official advisers of ability. In some of the cabinets have been states men who have shed decided lustre on the American republic. But it is safe to say that no President has been sur- rounded by as many high class busi- ness men as is Mr. Wilson. He him. self has shown that he is not only man of great intellectual force, but that his head is full of common sense, including what the world calls business sense. And what gives peculiar strength to the administration from a business point of view is the fact that there are in important financial posi- tions men of wide experience and reputation in commercial and financial matters.
 Mir. McAdoo, the Secretary of the Treasury, was well known as an able business man before he accepted a position in the cabinet. John Skelton Williams, who was for sometime as- sistant secretary, but who is now comptroller of the currency, had a national reputation as railroad man and banker. MT. Warburg, a member of the federal reserve board, has ar international reputation as banker Mir. Harding of the reserve board as financier and business man is sec ond to none in this country. And Mir
 Delano, also member of the board
 gave up the presidency of a railroad
 company to accept President Wilson's
 appointment. There are other mer
 connected with the administration that
 have been notably successful in busi
 ness; but those who are mentioned
 are so well known as to inspire conf dence in the business character of tn. national government.
 : Statesmanship must naturally pla, large part in governmental admin istration and national legislation; bu it would be difficult to imagine sucl rare combination of statecraft scientific economy, financiering skill and backbone as now distinguishes tn : democratic regime.
 To sweltering humanity Nngust seem at least 90 days long.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
MUSIC BORN OF SORROW

From the Chicago Inter Ocean
 There is no nation naturally musical it Is because it has passed through such tribulation that it has been driven Ito express its sorrow and anxiety in it's airs and compositions. Bach, the writer declares, is the eliminating ex- pression Of sufferings induced in Ger many by the 80 years war 50 years before Bachs time People sing Hike towards" he continues. to keep up their spirits in bad moments, and he finds that the real countries of music are nearly all frontier provinces ex- posed to external vicissitudes. Eng land he finds exempt to large extent from the occasions in which poets "learn in suffering what they teach in song" because it Is protected from in vasion by the girdle of the seas. Music. then. he argues, is not an art of peace; it originates in strife and anxiety, not in tranquility and concord. The over- prosperous countries, he discovers, mot only have no history they have no music"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
GERMANs KEEp WATCH

Antwerp correspondent New York World.
 As went to Antwerp early this morn- ing a great German monoplane, with curved wings and a fan-shaped tail fol- lowed the railway lines, keeping exact pace with our express train. From out side Brussels until we were halfway on our journey, it flew about three or four thousand feet up. Every now and then it passed through clouds, but watchful eyes were in 1t, and if the Germans did not know when they attacked Louvain what the result would be, the Belgians must have concealed their movements very closely. The aeroplane was at one time 15 or 20 miles inside the Belgian lines. Ii passed directly across the line taken in the afternoon by the retreating Belgian troops.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
GREAT TRIALS OF HISTORY
TRIAL OF MRS. RYyES

N NE of the most daring claims to a ' royal title was that in 1866 made
 by Mrs. Lavinia Jannetta Horton Ryves She asserted that her grand father was the Duke of Cumberland, and her son was, therefore, legitimate son and heir
 In 176I Olive, the daughter of Dr. James Wilmot, met the Duke of Cumber-
 land, the younger brother of George III, and short time after married her, the girl then being IT years of age Their only daughter who ought to have ac- quired the title Princess of Cumberland, was born four years after the marriage, and shortly afterward the duke deserted her and married Lady Ann Horton The Princess Olive was brought up with her uncle. Robert Wilmot, and s25, 000 a year was paid for her support. The petitioner brought many papers and documents Bur porting to the marriage and birth, and some supposed to have been signed by had no knowledge of her royal birth met and married M. de Serres, an artist, who the petitioner claimed were her mother and father.
 In 1915 Lord Warwick. being seriously i'll, gave to Mrs. Serres a packet of doc- uments being very numerous. She in turn gave them to her daughter, who was the Mrs. Ryves, and she brought them to the court for their inspection and to prove her claim.
 The case was heard before Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, Lord Chief Baron Pol lock, Sir James Wild and a special jury. ManH portraits were brought into court to prove the likeness of the Ryves to the royal family, but were not allowed to be shown to the jury. Another paper had it that George III was married be- fore his wedding with Queen Charlotte and by this marriage had children who were the rightful heirs to the throne. Upon these being shown the Lord Chief Justice interposed: "The court is as
 understand, asked solemnly to declare on the strength of two certificates, coming | I know not from whence written on two scraps of paper, that the marriage be-
 tween Queen Charlotte and his majesty
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
THE CENSOR
From the Washington Star.

From the Washington Star.
 Mayor Baker of Cleveland, in defense of political movement that had been at- tackled, said the other day:
 Its an honest movement and straightforward movement, and they who attack it are as censorious as the Sea bright old maid
 "A Seabright old maid was talking to sunburned college boy on the beach. A pretty girl passed and the old maid said:
 There goes Minnie Summers. You took her to the hop last evening. didn your
 Yes said the college boy. and he added politely. As l was taking leave of Miss Summers after the hop it dawned upon me-
 "It dawned! said the old maid. You kept her out till dawn! That's what these new dances lead up tov "
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25

The cultivation of cotton in Russia is very expensive and land owners can only succeed when they are given ample credit by cotton firms As a rule, these firms advance money in the spring, taking the future crop as security. Last seasons market brought a decided loss. with the result that cotton firms were forced to curtail the spring loans in 1914. It is said that from 40 to 45 per cent of the money advanced last year has not vet been re- turned. The area in Russia planted to cotton is given as 1.979.0OO acres. which is an increase of about per cent over the acreage of 1913 It is distributed as fol- lows: Transcaspia, 114,6OO acres Bohkara territory and rchardjuy and Kerkin dis tricts, 15s,610 acres; Samarkand territory and Kattakurgan district, so04o acres; Tashkend and Syr-Daria territories, 121,- 49O acres; Ferghana territory 1,04S,S40 acres; Khiva territory. 126,21o acres. The cotton acreage of Transcaucasia for 1914 is estimated at 319,110
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
Latin-American Commerce

The present trade situation in South America is such as finds ready appeal to the business interests of the United States. For number of years far seeing executives of this country have been alert to opportunities for foreign trade expansion and have looked with growing appreciation on the rapidly increasing commerce of the countries to the south; but commercial interests from across the Atlantic, by reason of kindred customs and language com bined with superior banking and ship ping facilities, had obtained such 3 strong foothold as not to be easily shaken from a grasp of this lucrative business. Therefore, while this coun try has developed a reasonably larg, trade in Latin-America, it compare unfavorably with English, German and Spanish commerce in that terri tory.
 One cause of this apparent inerti on the part of American business me- in reaching out for foreign trad might be found in the remarkable op portunities for trade expansion whicl have been presented during the pas 50 years of unparalleled industria and commercial development of do mestic resources. Until very recen years, business talent of the Unite States has worked overtime in an ef fort to keep pace with quickly nov ing affairs at home, and large capita had found ample scope for its opera
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
A PRAYER

Judd Mortimer Lewis, in the Housto Post.
 God of the warning nations,
 God of the ways of peace, Hark to the pleas of women
 And bid the warfare cease. Hark to the prayers of children, Their small hands lifted up. And from the world forever
 Remove this bitter cup. In years of peaceful living !. Thy servants have forgot The grief that follows carnage, And now, their blood grown hot, They challenge each the other,
 And with no needing for The necklaced arms of loved ones They chatter forth to war. Oh, God. remove this madness,
 And make Thy servants sane. Remove the fields of carnage,
 Where wounded and where slain Are trampled to gory remnants! Our God, of war and peace, Remove from men their blindness And bid the warfare cease! A wife stands all forsaken
 And peers into the storm, Above the smoke of battle
 She marks the vultures swarm. No loved one hears her pleadinEG And to her succor files Xl Beside where she stands weeping H A baby starves and dies. God, lift the burden from them N Who bear the burden most God. touch the hearts of rulers!
 God, turn each warning host From ways that lead to daughter
 Back to the paths of peace. God, hear the plaints of women
 And bid this warning ceaspl
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
united states circnIt Judgcshin

There will be several candidates, per- haps, for the United States circuit bench to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Shelby" said a well known mem Der of the Birmingham bar.
 District Judge Henry D. Clayton would fill the position with exceptional ability, and am inclined to think that the Pres ident will further honor him with such a promotion. Judge Clayton greatly dis tinguished himself in Congress as a mem Der of the Judiciary committee and finally as chairman, and he has been spoken of as a possible associate justice of the United States supreme court. His ap- pointment to succeed Judge Shelby would certainly be pleasing to the Alabama bar"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25

was an invalid marriage, and conseuuert " all the sovereigns who have sat oA the throne since his death. including her present majesty, were not entitled to -it on the throne' He concluded by refer ring to them as two rubbishy bits of paper''
 The attorney general, on behalf of the crown, after explaining the provisions Of the legitimacy act, proceeded to tear the story of the petitioners to pieces. showing here and there the weak points. ana Tn other places the utter absurdities, ana pronouncing it's folly only equal to US audacity. He showed that if George III entered into any marriage with Han nah Lightfoot before that of Caroline ! neither the wife nor the children would have held their peace, much less would
 have remained in obscurity. The secret must have been l,ant for 43 years by seven men and one woman who, although never divulging a word of the matter, must have been day and night writing on scraps of paper and telling the whole story A very unlikely pro- ceeding
 The claimant was proved to be of an unit state of mind. In one letter she offered to hand to the Prince of Wales $lo0.0O0 if he would interview her, and followed it right away with one begging
 for help and representing herself in pe- cuniary straits. She was a believer in
 ghosts and wrote about her occult DOW ers It was proved that she had takens
 lessons in manuscript work and had gone through a course of work that would well prepare her to forgery. The deeds
 were all on small pieces of paper. every one of which no human being would use for any transaction at all, much less enc as important as this. None bore date of
 water marks and the jury were of the
 unanimous opinion of their spurious
 ness.
 1 The jury were not satisfied that the
 mother of the petitioner was the daugh- ter of the Duke of Cumberland The
 formed documents were ordered imaound
 ed by the jury and Mrs. Lavinia Jan-
 netta Horton Ryves sacrificed all her
 pretensions to royal descent.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
SHE FILLED THE BILL

From the Chicago Herald
 John Sloan, the painter was featuring on Models before an art class in New York
 '"rhen there is the frivolous mode' said MT. Sloan. 'She, unless very beau tifnl is to be avoided.
 "A frivolous model besought a friend of mine to employ her.
 No mo- he said. I only do still life flowers and fruit
 "Well.' said the model. looking up at him, reproachfully out of limpid blue eyes, we'll ain't a peach?''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
HIS GIFTED SON
Q C,leveland Plain Dealer

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer q don't know what I'm ever going to
 make of that son of mine' said a prom
 inent citizen of the City of Good Will
 the other day. The P. C., it may be said,
 is a self-made man, graduate of the Uni
 versity of Hard Knocks, etc. And it nat
 uraIly grieves him that his son is not ag- gressive.
 Maybe your son hasn't found himself yet" we consoled. Isn't he gifted in any way?"
 Gifted? N should say he is. That's the trouble. He hasn't got a darned thing
 that wasn't given to him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
Shoes Will Advance in Price

The price of shoes, particularly the finer grades, will advance still further without reference to war;" said J. D. Col lns.
 The supply of hides .is not keeping pace with the demand Statistics show that there is a steady falling off of the supply of hides produced in this country. The world is demanding more leather to shoe the increasing population. Most of the fine leather comes from London or other European markets. Calfskin and French kid are growing more expensive so makers of fine footwear will be forced to charge more for their products, and of course, the dealers will also There is no substitute for leather, though some manufacturers do use other things ir their 'fendings, but no first class manu. facturer does. if
 Competition for years made chear shoes; in fact, too low in price, all things considered. That day Is past, and we may look for a steady advance for some years in footwear Canvas may delay it in some goods. but real leather products are bound to climb to higher prices b, reason of the demand and the supply oi hides'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25
QUAKER QUITS
the philadelphia Record.

From tIIt FIIlIdtftIPIIId IteCOIu'
 Don't envy the ice man. He gets as hot as anybody else.
 Even the high flyer has to come down when it comes to footing the bills.
 The people who give you a roast one day may hand you cold cut the next.
 There is nothing like a summer vaca- ton to make a man appreciate his home. The fellow who has his noseS down to the grtndstone seldom acquires any polish There IS no reason why even the grocer shouldn't realize that honest tea is the best polity.
 | Even sn summer 1t is just as well to re- 1 member that hot words do not make warm friends.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-25

exposed is not a justification of de- pravities long hidden. but an attack upon those who have dragged them into publicity.
 In this view of the matter, newspa pers have reason to congratulate them selves upon the fact that they have been accused. By that circumstance they have proof that their work has been well done. There is not an efficient prosecuting officer in the land who hasj not been similarly reproached by men who presently Handed in the peniten- tiary