davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
ON SAVING THE COUNTRY
By BILL VINES

1 as the only means of saving the country. Our forefathers came over to this country to escape regulation and to enjoy a sea- son of personal liberty. Fortunately for them they have passed away and have remained passed away permanently. If they were living now, and would permit our job-lot of plain and fancy regulators get a whack at them, they would inn mediately become convinced that old King George and other kings and tyrants of their day and time were mere pikers when 1t came right square down to reg ulating.
 If the country can be saved by the reg ulators it certainly ought to be well and satisfactorily saved They regulate what we buy. what we eat, what we wear, what we drink, how we drink it, when We drink it and why we drink it. They regulate how we work and how many hours we work. They have not yet tried to regulate how,~ when and who we shall marry, but they tax us according to whether we are married or not.
 The plain people some of these days are going to become sick and plum dis gusted with all this regulation and coun- try-saving stuff, and when they do they will rise up in their might and inform all the regulators and savers just where they get off. The plain people arej get ting restless under the restraint now. Each year the rules and regulations of the regulators are growing tighter and tighter. Each year the individual cti- zens rights and freedom of movements are becoming more and more circum- scribed, and the government is becoming more and more his guardian. The time will come when the people will get sore and when they get good and sore some country savers are going to come in for very bad session. The people will rise up and kick off all restraint and muss up the proceedings in due and ancient form. One thing must not be overlooked at least it is not safe to overlook it for any great while, and that is, that this country belongs to the people Most of them haven't found it out yet, but when they do, they are going to take pos session of it, and then we are liable to have freedom with most too much expression in 1t.
 In the meantime, if someone would get some good insect powder and scatter it among these regulators it might help some.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
POLITICAL WINDFALLs

From the Manchester Courier
 Several bygone politicians have received oven more substantial tributes from their admirers than the brothers Redmond and Keir Hardie, who, under the will of Miss Jane Kippen, divide a1O.0OO between them
 Golden gave himself up so much to pol itios that his affairs were always in dis order. but no man ever had more gen. orous friends. The best of these was John Pennington Thomasson, formerly a member of Parliament for Bolton, who presented him with several large sums, amounting in one instance to e7oOo.
 The romantic story of Disraeli and Mrs Brydges Williams Is another case in point. There was a spice of mystery In this which appealed to Disraeli;N the as- signations pressed on him by the lady with increasing fervor till he went to meet her, the envelope containing a f10OO note thrust into his hand. and the be- quest at a critical time in his life of the whole of the lady's fortune-all this be- longs to the realms of fiction rather than workaday fact.
 The elder Pitt enjoyed two political windfalls. Under the will of that old termagant Sarah Duchess of Marlbor- ough. he received e10,000 flor the noble defense he made for the support of the laws of England" At later stage in his career Pitt was left an estate of some e3Oo0 by Sir William Pynsent whom he had never met and with whom he had never corresponded.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
Attracting HOmeseekers

The south is attracting homeseekers now more than ever. The early spring fin this part of the country is in sharp contrast to the winter conditions pre- vailing in the north, and this will de- termine many a northern farmer of limited means to come and settle in Alabama, where good lands can be bought for little money, and where all the crops can be produced profit ably.
 The railroads, through their land and industrial departments, are do- ing much to make known the ad- vantages presented by those states which the roads traverse. The land and publicity agents are distributing attractive booklets and disseminating Information in various ways, but desirable settlers will be induced to come to Alabama in even larger num- bers when the Settlement and Devel- opment association gets well to work. This association is organized for the purpose of building up the waste places and it will seek especially to bring farm colonies to Alabama and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
The Music Festival

All music lovers are eager to see the project for holding festival ir May materialize, and there is good req son to believe it will" said business man.
 T like the plan which the Birming- ham Music association Is now working on. The association is stock com pany and the shares are only s1o. understand that the total stock sub scription Is to be limited at the star. to 5000. Should there be festival deficit it will be paid out of the treas ury. This Is a more satisfactory plan than the old way of raising guar antee fund and then prorating the amount to meet the deficit. If the fes- tival Is held Birmingham will hear a splendid chorus of TO voices and one of the finest symphony orchestras in this country.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
USE DOGS AS BLANKETS
From scribner's Magazine


 Every visitor to one of the great Paris stores will have noticed counters covered with table cutlery of the characteristic French pattern-broad curved blades and steel and very cheap. Almost all this is made at Thiers and by hand. But there is no external sign of manufacture, and traveller might pass through the town without suspecting a great industry.
 The swift flowing Durolle supplies power at the bottom of a deep and narrow gorge, on the steep side of which the apparently sleepy town is built At one story below street level we came to the forges of the chief firm. There, with ex- traordinary quickness and skill the knives are hand forged-blade hilt and tang from steel bar, then tempered one by one, and two stories lower down, at river level, in a long, dark, damp cellar, they are ground, and it is the method of this process, unique so far as I know, that makes the industry of Thiers worth a moments description
 The river turns a score of emery wheels about yard In diameter. and above each of these is narrow, sloping platform 6 feet long and feet wide. Along each of these, fiat and face downward, lay a grinder, man or woman, grasping blade by the two ends and pressing 1t by the whole weight of the body against the revolving wheel just below. The long row of stretched-out bodies gave a grim impression of something between a field hospital and a mortuary.
 The Foreman assured us that it was much easier work thus to press against the wheel by ones weight than to sit and press by the force of ones arms. But to lie thus almost motionless all day long in a dark cellar, far below the ground leved. is about as dreary and unhealthy a way for human being to pass his life as can be imagined. The place itself can- not be warmed, but to keep at least a little heat in their bodies and stave off Rheumatism as long as possible the grinders have adopted the extraordinary expedient of training dogs to lie all day upon them-dogs of all sorts and sizes. There they lay, curled up on the backs of their owners thighs, living hot bottles.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
Phenomenal Jump in Iron Exports

fnenOmenal Jump Tn Iron EXpOrts
 The growing power of the United States in the iron and steel world is fully demonstrated by the remarkable record of this industry in 1913. Dur ing the 12 months $1 ,000,000 worth of American iron and steel was sold abroad for every day of the year. Nor is this all; the official figures of American foreign commerce show that in the past 10 years the exports of iron and steel from the United States have increased 1S2 per cent, while those of Germany show an ad- vance of only 40 per cent, with the trade of Great Britain growing but 73 per cent.
 In 1913 Germany surpassed Eng land as an iron and steel exporting nation, her shipments being per cent greater than that of the latter coun- try, but Germany's tonnage was one- half larger than ours.
 Much of our iron and steel is needed at home. Mill owners used to say that the life of iron was about 20 years, and that every two decades it returned to the furnaces. But build ing conditions have changed much of this. The use of steel and iron struc- lures for our modern skyscrapers causes the metal to be buried, as it were, and when it once enters these towering buildings, it is presumabl' there forever But Europe is begin ming to initiate us in this respect and she needs our iron and steel. While it is true that a lower tariff encour- ages the importation of European metal into the United States, compe- tition for foreign business in such channels has become so acute that American mills are more than likely to maintain their increase of iron and steel in foreign markets and it is most assuredly not too optimistic to pre- dict that at the end of the present de- cade the United States will have be- come the greatest iron and steel ex- porting nation upon the face of the globe.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30

install them in fertile districts and amid pleasant surroundings.
 The Birmingham Chamber of Con- merce has a farm movement commit tee composed of wide awake men working to increase the number of truck farmers in Jefferson county. This committee has accomplished something within the past two or three years, and with the cooperation of the recently organized Alabama Settlement and Development associa- tion, it should be able to show large results in the next year or two. There are about 200 truck farmers in the immediate Birmingham district now. There is room for two or three thousand.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
UNDERWOOD,s CLEAN CAMPAIGN From the Jacksonville Record.

From the Jacksonville Record.
 The campaign is about to close, and Hon. Oscar w. Underwood has completed a forceful and effective campaign, and the thing for which his friends are con graduating MT. Underwood and them selves is the fact that MT. Underwood has conducted a clean campaign. He has not resorted to any of the coarse cam paign tactics, in any effort to defeat opponents, but has stuck closely to his post of duty at Washington, while his campaign has been carefully and sys- tematically looked after by his ardent Underwood has persstently refused to take the stump in joint debate with MT. Hobson in Alabama at the expense of his time at Washington has met with an effort on the part of some of Mir. Hob- sons supporters to make capital of, but the people of Alabama know the issues, they know Mir. Underwoods ability and merits, and they know which man they prefer to represent them in the Senate they know all issues have been met by Mir Underwood. hence the unnecessity of the joint debate, which after all is a mat ter entirely with MT. Underwood and MT. Hobson anyway. Oscar Underwood will be nominated on April for the Senate.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
LOVE AND NATURE

D. A. R, in the London Chronicle. Lady mine, with sudden dread Pales the rose: on broken wing From heaven whose light hath aed
 Drops the lark, no more to sing Haggish night, vainglorious grown. Boldly grasps at beauty's crown When you frown.
 Lady mine, the raindrops fall
 As the tear pearls from your eva. Earth to oceans anguished call
 Saddest consultation sighs. Birds their nests more closely kear startled sunbeams fear to peep, When you weep.
 Lady mine, the joyous morn
 Breaks the prison bars of nie.AE Phoebus from the shades reh<-r
 scatters glory. wealth, delirh. Man, beneath a subtle guile. Dreams of paradise awhile. When yQu smile.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30

WOMEN's VOTES AND FREE LOVE
 From the New York World
 Hamlet: Do you see wonder cloud that's | almost In shape of a camel?" Polonius: By the mass, and 'tis like a l camel, indeed"
 Hamlet: "Methinks it is like a weasel" Polonius: Tt is backed like weasel" Hamlet: "Or like a whale?" Polonius: Very like whale" Hamlet" Act IT. Scene 2
 To the imagination of the "anti," woman suffrage takes various portentous and fearsome shapes. But it has remained for | Rabbi Silverman to see in it a grave men.
 ace to marriage. "The infamous ethics of the feminist movement will destroy the
 sanctity of the home" says Dr. Silverman
 The majority of women who vote will
 be those who will advocate free love, and
 the result will be that women will be unsexed."
 If women are unsexed, there will be
 no approximation of the race, and conse- quently no suffragists to worry about But what evidence to support his fears does the learned rabbi find in the states where women already vote? Is feminist free love breaking up homes in California or Oregon?
 There are enough logicai ana rational objections to woman suffrage available for those who oppose 1t without the need of recourse to fancied perils. Marriage has not been affected adversely by mems vot- ing. Why should voting by women affect it. except, perhaps to strengthen its bonds? The theory that women will make
 use of their new-won political power tc put themselves at a disadvantage so. | cially is illogical and takes no accoun, | of the fact that it is to women that mar. | riage mainly owes it's sanctity.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
ToMoRROw-TRIAL OF DURANT

mortality was below the average. The chief death causes were senility, "heart
 disease cerebral hemorrhage. pneumo- nia and nephritis.
 The age at death varied from 22 10 9S. with an average of 50 years 8
 months and 12 days. The general aver
 age age at death since 1904 Is 59 yearo 2 months and 21 days The number of
 years of practice varied from 1 to 7s, the average being 32 years II months and days. The average for the past 10 years is S2 years, months and a days
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
Great Hopes Centered on The Hague

Great Hopes Centered on The Hague
 The fact that the next great peace conference to be held at The Hague will not assemble until 1917, and the reasons for it's deferment of three years argue that much of almost in- calcuable value will result from the deliberations of the assemblage.
 The European powers have named the postponed date from the con- sensus of opinion that time for a thorough preparation of the pro- gramme for the conference is essen- tial in order that anything profitable may emenate from the deliberations of so important body.
 There have been two previous con ferences at The Hague in the advo- cacy of universal peace, one in 1899 and the other in 1907, and that better results therefrom were not obtained has been accredited by leading diplo- matists to insufficient preparation, a grave error which it has been deter mined shall not be factor of the next convention.
 Hope for an almost ideal assem- blaze is justified by the interest mani fested in the next conference by the leading powers of the globe and the earnestness with which they have en- tered into preparations for it's pro- ceedings. Holland has been advised by these powers that much of good is confidently looked for.
 The German imperial government has assigned to several high officials the task of working out carefully pre- paratory details, and France has all ready set herself to labor by the ap- pointment of committee under the direction of one of her best advocates, Maitre Renault.
 Austria ia-Hungary, Russia and Italy are keenly alive to the outcome of the conference and the three countries of Scandinavia have taken particular pains to depute the fashioning of the programme which concerns their in terest to Hagerup, the Norwegian secretary of state, Assisted by care fully selected committee.
 Probably the most salient feature of the prospective. gathering lies in the fact that the Emperor of Russia, Nicholas H., has requested his most trusted adviser, Baron Taube, to pre- pare special memorial upon the question of peace, which is to be sub mitted at the opening of the confer ence.
 With such indications as these ob- taining the dream of universal peace may be nearer and far less chimercial than most persons have believed.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
PROFITABLE THIEvING
n the Boston Transcript.

From the Boston Transcript.
 Although he is 80 years of age and has spent nearly half a century in prison, Adolf Schafer who says he is the oldest pickpocket in the world, was caught in Berlin in the act of trying to steal an omnibus passengers purse. When the octogenarian, who Is of highly respectable appearance, was brought before the mag istrate & remarkable story was told It was said that the old man had latterly been living in a home for aged people. He received permission to leave on telling the officials that, as he had decided to marry and settle down. he wished to earn a little money to provide home for his fu- ture bride.
 He resorted, however, to his old pursuit of pickpocketing. and when arrested hs was found to be in possession of note- book in which he had scrupuloqsly en- tered all his earnings as a sneak thief during the last 90 years.
 The book showed that, after allowing $15' 800 for $50 year for living expenses. he should have been in enjoyment of a sum of s11.ooo. as his receipts totaled $21, ,6O0
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
IN STOCK

From tho Philadelphia Public Ledger
 There is proprietor of a shop in the city. a most excitable temperament, who Is forever scolding his clerks for their indifference in the matter of possible sales
 One day. hearing a clerk say to a cus- tcmer, No, we have not. had any for . long time." the proprietor, unable to countenance such an admission. began to work himself into the usual rage. Fix ing glassy eye on the clerk. he said to the customer:
 We have plenty in reserve, ma'am; plenty downstairs.''
 Whereupon the customer looked dazed md then to the amazement of the pro prietor burst into hysterical laughter and quit the shop 4.
 What did she say to your demanded the proprietor to the clerk.
 'We haven't had any rain lately.''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30

K NAPOLEON BONAPAHrE gave to
 M Marshal Michel Ney his familiar
 1 title of "The Bravest of the
 Brave,' and none of his marshals was
 more highly esteemed nor more sincerely
 relied upon. Ney may be said to have
 been born a soldier. His father was a
 soldier and the boy was brought up amid
 the stir of arms and 1t is small wonder
 that his tastes were entirely military. His
 father tried to discourage his military career and chose for him the law. but
 after an honest attempt to follow the
 wishes of his parent he gave up the strug-
 gle and joined the army.
 Michel Neys advance was rapid. Ma
 poleon placed perfect confidence in him, and after the Russian campaign and the abdication of Napoleon, under the res toration Ney still served France When Napoleon came back from the Elba and Ney was sent to oppose him, he and all
 his forces fell under the spell of their old leader and followed him to Paris. Previous to starting to oppose the ad- vance of Napoleon, Ney called on the
 King, to whom he promised to bring Na- pOleOH Ddch III dh iloi SdSo' Ney NoS no doubt sincere at the time, but when he arrived at the head of his army he was met by the news that, on all sides the troops were deserting The same evening emissaries arrived. from Napoleon
 alleging that all the marshals had prom ised to go over. Finally, when his van
 guard at Bourg had deserted, Ney said: "It Is impossible for me to stop the water of the ocean with my own hand"
 Ney finally felt himself powerless to overcome the circumstances and he cast
 his lot with Napoleon. Then came the
 fatal battle of Waterloo. Ney knew what it meant to come out of the battle alive and defeated. He rushed into the very ''jaws of death." Five horses were shot under him, his clothes were riddled with bullets but he was reserved for a sinister fate AS the British were sweep l ing his army along with a rush, Ney passed d Erlon and screamed out to him: l If you and I come out of this alive. | q 'Erlon, we shall be hanged"
 | In the fight Ney reached Paris and wit messed the equalization and second ab- | der the terms of equalization, and, anx- | ious to clear his name for the sake of
 his children, he remained hidden in the | chateau of Bessonis waiting to see what
 the attitude of the government would be- l It was there he was discovered by a
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-30
x--------z--=rr=1ErE=
New Theory As to Icebergs

A new theory announced relative to the life and final disposition of an iceberg suggests that strange feature of human character which permits fa- miliar objects to remain long time unsubiected to study and careful con- sideration.
 Sailors have divided the masses of ice which frequent the steamer lanes" of the north Atlantic during the spring into two great classes-regu- lar icebergs and "growlers" or "slob ice" The former vary in size and usually float with about three-fourths of their dimensions submerged. The same proportions as to exposure are maintained by the "growlers," but they are never very high above the surface, about 15 feet being consid- cred the normal height.
 These masses of floating ice are broken off from the glaciers in the arctic regions and float southward in the spring and summer. Until re- gently it has always been supposed that they continued floating to warmer seas until they were even- tually entirely melted by the gulf stream or lower attitudes. But now appears Captain Johnson of the United States revenue cutter Seneca, with new theory as to the fate of the drift ice and bergs. He asserts that he has given years of scientific study to the question and is convinced that the bergs do not perish in the gulf stream or warmer waters, but that when they have decreased about two- thirds in size, they are caught up by an adverse current of the ocean and returned to the regions in which they originated.
 He bases much of his conclusion upon the alleged fact that all of the icebergs in the state of dimunition which he has observed were inva- riably floating in direction due north and at rate of about four miles a day. They appear to leave the gulf stream off of the Grand Banks, where it defects in the direction of Flemish cape, and slowly proceed upon their northern route. Again, no icebergs are encountered below a cer- tain degree of southern latitude and their size when last observed just a short distance above this latitude must preclude the idea that in so short . distance and so brief time they had melted sufficiently to render them Invisible above the surface of the sea, They are caught up by another cur rent and begin their journey home ward.