davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-04

getting good wages. standing waiting for
the phone when they ought to be selling
meat"
The butcher cast an irritated glance at
Scarburgh and then said petulantly Il
guess | can attend to my own business
without having the telephone company
butt in. You will have to let me alone
now. | don't want to change my contract
and l don't want to talk about 1t. | have
to see a man about buying some
chickens"
Chickens" said Scarburgh, as If he
had heard the name of long-lost dear
relative. do you like chickens, too?"
do IL exclaimed the butcher eagerly.
Il have got one of the finest chicken
farms in the state of Connecticut-tha
is, for a small one. Do it just for a
pastime-as another man would have fast
horses. Why, there is nothing in the
world to take a mans mind off his bus-
ness like chickens
Mr.. scarburgh hadn't thought much
about chickens for several years, hadn't
heard a rooster crow or a hen cackle for
months, but in flash he brought to his
mind the impressions of the feathered
friends of his ,boyhood-Miss Emeline
James long-legged Schanghai, Eastus'
old Dorking and the parsons white
Wyandotts. When the butcher came to
the end of his sentence Mr.. Scarburgh
was ready to talk chickens.
We'll say he began in a reminiscent
drawl have you any of those Silver
Spangled Hamburgs we used to see when
| was a boy? They are some chickens,
can tell you.
The butcher sat down again and so
die Mr. Scarburgh A quarter of an hour
later Mr.. Scarburgh was ready to go
and the butcher took him to the street
entrance of his establishment and shook
hands with MIN reluctantly.
Say. young man. he said affectionate-
ly 'any time you happen to be passing
this way and want to talk chickens drop
in, and I'll be glad to see you The ren-
son I was little sharp about the tele-
lhcne proposition you suggested was be-
cause GA other glib young men from the
telephone company have been here be-
fore you and I'm beginning to think there
Is more in It for the company than
there is for me-"
When young Scarburgh reported at
headquarters the result Of his DAYS can
vassing he said to the clerk: make a
note about the wholesale butcher for me.
Don't let anyone else call on him and
I'll promise to land him in six months"
For the next few months every time
Mr.. Scarburgh happened to be passing
he called on the wholesale butcher and
always found a ready welcome. What
Scarburgh hadn't learned about chickens
when he was a boy he learned from his
conversations with the butcher.
One day he went to the butchers office
at particularly busy time of the day
and found a half dozen high-paid sales
ment waiting to use the one telephone
instrument. He noticed their annoyance
and figured the possible loss to the busi-
ness that this delay cost. but when he
saw the butcher he told him about new
breed he had seen at the poultry show.
When he had finished. the butcher de-
layed him.
Say he said, lowering his voice. "as
a friend. confidentially, what would You
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-04
Neapolitan Funeral

Nazionale The old grotto is half mile
venience which their proximity to the
heart of the city affords. they have a
charm that is fascinating In the ex-
treme. When the sea is high the waves
dash over the stone coping that lines
the street and their continued tapping
is provocative of the soundest slumber
at night In the morning one is wooed
by the songs of the hundreds of fish
ermen with whom he is in comparative
touch and as this thoroughfare by the
sea is used as matin parade for the
troops at an early hour one may, If
up betime. obtain pretty good review
of the Italian army. While the cavalry
are most In evidence, there are to be
seen many regiments of those quaint
troops with bunch of chicken feathers
in their hats and quickstep that
would exhaust the breath of an ordl-
nary mortal In 10 minutes. This gait,
however is only for exhibition and is
indulged in alone in the city; 1t is not
the rural districts. Then again the sea
air is purer to me than that of the
heights and I deem 1t a treat to be as
near the bay as possible.
When one looks out of his window at
Naples and his eyes sweep the surface to
the bay until they rest upon the white
houses of Capri or Sorrento sparkling in
the sunlight he is not aware that his
gaze is commanding vista some twenty
miles away. In other words, it is as far
from Naples to Capri as it is from Dover,
in England, to Calais, in France. Who
would ever think it possible to look
across the British channel? And yet this
is exactly what you do, or its equivalent,
when, from your Neapolitan hotel you see
the houses of Capri or Sorrento. 1t is
the difference in the rarity of the atmos-
phere that effects the distinction.
Most visitors to Naples miss the tun-
nels called grottos They do this BECAUSE
they are not sufficiently advised or COM
petently conducted. | have often been
amused at the perfunctory manner in
which travellers are shown over the city
and think that they have seen Naples.
They hire carriage or engage seats
upon char-a-banc and ride through the
principal thoroughfares with man call
ing out through a megaphone the lead
ing objects of interest, which are forgot
ten as soon as designated and return to
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-04

Copyright, 1914, by the Mcclure News
paper Syndicate)
NouNG Bob scarburgh liked chick
ems. In fact, there wasn't chick
i EN- in the little town on the east
coast of Virginia where he was brought
up that Bob Scarburgh 1idn't know per-
sonally. In the morning when the first
rooster broke the silence of the night
with his raucous greeting to the day
yclng Bob Scarburgh would sit up in
bed and listen.
There goes Miss Emeline Jane 5
Schangh,' he would say to his brother on
the other side of the bed. Wonder who
woke him up so early. Uncle Rastus'
old Dorzing usually tunes up first
Then with the sound of another chan
ticleer the boys would listen eagerly
That's the parsons new White Wyan-
cote, / do beeve-proud old thing. Say,
wouldn't you like to have whole lot OF
White Wyandottes for your own? If L
were very rich I'd buy all the chickens L
wanted and I'd have the biggest chicken
yard in the place-maybe in all Virginia
And I'd nave "a Silver Spangled Ham
burg-the kind they had at the county
fair-and some Cochins. and maybe
game cock
Some 10 years later, when Robert Scar
burgh was "a he was salesman for the
New York Telephone company. He was
getting SIT a week and the time when
he would have enough money to buy all
the chickens he wanted didn't seem any
nearer than it was when he was a boy.
One day he was told to go to a whole
sale butchers on the lower West Side
OF the city to see about making a new
dea, for his telephone service. AS things
stood, the butcher had an old fiat rate
contract with the company which pro-
l.f.x nit ,p1i Init l,a
butcher was doing growing business and
had so many calls over the one phone
that the telephone company was losing
money on the deal and the butcher and
his customers weren't getting adequate
service. What the telephone company
wanted was to have the butcher see the
WISDOM of installing several trunk lines
with switchboard operator. So Mr.. Scar
burgh who has been with the company
for few months and seemed to be a
good, live salesman, called on the whole
sale butcher.
He waited his turn IN the outer office
with the beef packing salesman, old-bone
contractors and uptown retail dealers.
and finally saw the wholesale butcher
himself Scarburgh stated his business
You are getting your present telephone
. service for few hundred dollars year,
he said, "and the service we are offer
ine you now will cost you several thou
slnd dollars including the 800 paid In
operators wages.
The wholesale butcher bristled and
moved uneasily in his .lask chair. but Mr..
Scarburgh continued with his easy going
southern voice.
~ am not asking YOU to make this
change because it will help the telephone
company, but because it will help you.
at will increase your sales 20 per cent
why, you lose dozen customers day
lust because the line is busy when they
want to telephone their orders, and you
are wasting your employees time having
them stand around waiting to use this
one poor little instrument. There are two
pen there now. salesmen who must be
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-04

and the government annually derives a
benefit of 100000 from its lotteries
The lottery shops are visited daily and
as frequently as we of America go to
postoftice or market. II Is worth whle
to inspect them, especially upon Friday
nights, when they are unusually crowded.
an extra fe is charged after that time.
the drawings taking place on Saturday $.
One is both amused and surprised at
the ornate decorations of the harness
worn by the beasts of burden as well as
carriage animals. This is generally COW
cred with gilt or brass and upon the head
or back flaunts long object resembling
foxs tail 1t is generally supposed
that this is for decorative purposes only
but In a rather jocose manner Just as
we nail up horse shoe for goodt luck
or pick up a loose pin. but il Is never
theless n superstition that has n firm
hold upon the people. One is surprised
at the great burdens THAT the animals
are able to draw; in fact. donkey not
much larger than a Newfoundland dog
is able TO pull with comparative ease a
load that would tax a full-sized Amer
lean horse to it's utmost. The secret is
in the manner in which the Neapolltan
balances his vehicle. In this respect they
have us beaten by great odds. The ends
of the vehicle shafts are high above the
animals head and by simply resting his
weight upon them the vehicle and It's
heavy load is impelled forward. So deli-
cately are they poised that in removing
the load ! have often seeh the horses
mules lifted high in the air and there
suspended in dangling and must ln-
dcrous fashion.
The aquarium at Naples should by no
means be omitted. In some respects its
piscine collection is the most marvellous
in the world. That in New York is much
larger and its specimens more extensive.
but 1t fails in the rarity of its colec-
ton. The Neapoitan aquarium is In the
villa Nazionale. the principal park and
fashionable drive The octopi are fed
every afternoon and for the edincation
of visitors the attendants touch the deli
cate water anemones which draw in their
spiral projections at the slightest impace.
Just close a Chinese fan. The
Loupe de Mer and its sea horses are un-
equaled.
/ shall say nothing of the statuary of
Naples, for its famous National Museum
is too we'll known to my readers for de-
soription here, but | must call attention
TO figure in the little chapel Of Sanse
vero that is seldom visited by tourists.
The chapel is always kept closed and |
spent half a day I'm seeking out the GUS
is known as II Disingano (the man In the
with the net. is carved from one piece
of marble. The fishing tackle Is thrown
over the left arm and extends from that
member to the floor.
Here is also to be seen one of those
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-04

] put up to you six months ago"
IT'S a 60" said the butcher slapping
Searburgh on the back. why didn't you
come to begin with? 1t was the GA others
that talked to me first that made me
hold out against II. Get the trunks and
switchboard in as as soon as possible and
when you come with the contract | II
sign it,
When Scarburgh reported this success
the men at headquarters were impressed
On January Scarburgh found his week
ly wage was increased from $l7 week to
$2}-the best salary paid for the sort OF
work Mr.. Scarburgh was doing, and he
had been with the company less than a
year.
Robert Scarburgh's first job was as a
district school teacher in his native coun-
ty on the east coast of Virginia. He
was II years old when he began and
he got s25 a month Sometime after that
a friend of his In the north offered him
a place in his brokerage office in New
York and Scarburgh accepted it, But
business was dull in the brokerage office
and after year Mr.. Scarburgh realized
that he was drawing his weekly check
merely as matter of courtesy--a mat
ter Of family obligation and a spirit OF
Virginia loyalty.
There are plenty OF jobs at home like
this he said to himself. II can sit
iooiid siiiohiI6 Win my lttN oii a dtsh
and be comfortable in the south. II / stay
in New York / want to hustle
He quit on Saturday and decided to so
home on Monday. He had even decided
on what train he would take when he
thought what the folks at home would
say. He would be just one more of the
easy-going southern men who had found
New York too strenuous. There would be
a general II told you so" by way of a
greeting when he arrived. SO he decided
to start out again. He had a friend who
worked for the telephone company, and
with him for hacker he went in search
of job. By Tuesday he was on the pay
roll as outside man. For the first three
days of the work he was afraid he would
be discharged and for the next three
days he wished sincerely that he would.
Then the spirit of the telephone company
got into his bones and he began to hustle.
His new work was full of diversity. 1t
had more human interest in day than
the brokerage business had in a month.
In the course of day he would have
to see Bowery saloonkeeper; from there
he would go to argue with Sixth avenue
dry goods merchant In favor of having
a private branch telephone exchange:
the next place on his list would be the
shop of a poor carpenter who could Ill
afford single phone, and from there he
would go to see Lady So-and-So at the
Waldorf. who wanted a private line dur
Ing her stay in the city.
But his success with the wholesale
butcher was the turning point. Not an
other man on the force could have con-
vinced him. but then no one else knew
so much about chickens.
With Mr.. Scarburghs next raise in
salary he was given an executive posi-
tion in Westchester county, New York.
and then one day heard that he was
wanted In the advertising department at
headquarters. He <eok a position under
Mr.. II. X. McKan, who was director of
the advertising department of the tele-
phone company. and when Mr.. McKan
became chief advertising man of the
Standard OIL company three years ago
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-04
Odd Neapoli tan Harness

of Augustus and Seneca refers to 1t as
a narrow and gloomy pass. In medieval
times superstitution attributed the con-
struction of the tunnel TO magic al is
practiced by Virgil. 1t is still the Ia
vorite passage of the laborer and peasant
and the visitor in traversing It should
make provision for protection from the
clouds of dust that his vehicle raises. In
deed the cabmen are 10th to make lac
pandemonium. The roar of the trans Is
deafening, the ringing of the gongs the
loud report of the teamsters' lash and his
yelling at his animals, the cry of the
street vender and the neighing or bray
ing of the beasts of laden add to tho
general confusion and bewildering up
roar.
Fortunate is he who is enabled to wit4
ness fete or festival in Naples In thu
lower classes work is a disagreeable in
cident of daily life. to be offset by n
jolihcation. Even among the well-to-do
a comfortable home and a good table
are as naught compared to an opera box
or a church fete. Most of the festivals
are In celebration of some church hol-
iday and in southern Italy the populace
becomes actually delirious upon such oc-
casions. During these events II is better
for strangers not to venture out in 4
carriage, but to hire a balcony upon the
Corso, the principal street, and watch
the passage of the procession from that
safe vantage ground. Usually one has to
go to Sorrento to see the tarantella
danced but during the carnival this ma =
tional dance may be witnessed in Naples.
The dance actually derives its name
from the reptile tarantula, II being the
custom and belief that when one was
bitten by a tarantula the only way to
prevent death was to dance until the
poison of the bite had been driven by
the exercise from the human system.
To n stranger Neapolitan funeral is
as much of a show is a fete, especi-
ally II the obsequies are held at night
Then the attendants bear lighted candles
five feet in length and the function, fdr
1t Is a function, is attended with great
pomp and much ceremony. The horses
drawing the hearse are covered with
most elaborate trappngs and the hearse
itself is as gaudy one OF Barnum' :
vans in a street parade. But often the
hearse is absent and the coffin is borne
upon the shoulders of men who are mem
bers of a burial guild. They wear long
black or white gowns and are invar-
iably masked. These members are pledged
to follow one another to the confr es
of the town. so they rarely accompany
the remains to the cemetery. The custom
of being masked originated in the time
of the Florentine plague and 1t leads to
ing funerals is often performed by depu-
ties without detection.
Gambling is still the curse of Italy
The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, 1914-08-29


Lawrence; and have more faith in
Roger Sullivan's candidacy than in
that of Hearst and Lawrence; for
they pretend to stand for the rule of
the people, yet all the time play the
game of plutQcracy. They are hypo-
critics and Sullivan isn't. AS under
stand it, Sullivan is quite frank in his
bossism. If had to have a boss 1
would prefer Sullivan to either Hearst
or Lawrence. But 1 don't have to
have boss; so 1 am for none of
them. -
Before Mayor Harrison got hitched
up with Lawrence, he was the strong
est man in town with the people.
They had faith in him. But Hearst
is too big load for any man to car
ry in Chicago. And can't quite
reconcile Hearst's alliance with
Dunno, Harrison and Lewis with his
vicious hostility toward President
Wilson and Secretary Bryan.
If were party Democrat and an
earnest supporter of Wilson l would
be afraid to turn the election Inachin-
cry of Chicago over, to Hearst, be-
cause think Hearst viii be found
fighting Wilson in 1916. regard
Judge Owens as more of Hearst
Lawrence man than a Harrison man.
If 1 were a Democrat would vote
for Dan Cruice for the nomination
for county Judge, not only because of
his record as an advocate of popular
government, but also because if he
should be nominated and elected he
would be under no obligation to any
party boss and could serve the pub
lie. .....,. - ,----r .
But as to the senatorial scrap, 1
don't want to be tied up to either Of
the party factions. can't see much
in it for the people no matter who
wins in the primaries, and it doesn't
make a particle of difference to me
how any voter votes. It is none of
The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, 1914-08-29
ONE MANS OPINIONS
BYN D. COCHRAN

ne senatorial Scrdp.-l nave the
following letter concerning the Dem
ocratic scrap for U. S. senator:
81 see in your Comment that the
daily papers failed to print all of Car
ter Harrison's speech on Roger Sui
ivan's record. What is the matter
with The Day Book? Has Roger got
The Day Book buffaloed as well as
the daily papers? If not, tell us some
thing about Roger. think that the
majority of Day Book readers would
like to see something in The Day
Book about Rogers past record. If
you are not with him show us that
you are against him and why
Day Book Reader.
am not bothering my head about
that senatorial scrap one way or an
other, and have no desire to influence
any reader of The Day Book as to
how he should vote.
1t doesn't make the slightest diff
ference to me whom the Democrats
nominate. ...
1 don't know much about the de-
tails of Sullivan's record or of
Springer's. have seen nothing to
indicate that either of them would
tear his shirt in a frenzy to serve
the people. Personally would pre-
fer Barratt O'Hara, by far, to either
of them
couldn't be a supporter of Roger
Sullivan because my impression of
him is that he is a representative of
Special Privilege rather than rep
resentative of the people, a political
boss rather than a leader 1 don't
believe in the party system that Sui
Ivan stands for and haven't seen
anything in his public utterances to
indicate that he is really progressive.
1 have no doubt he stands by his
friends, keeps his word and plays
the game on the level with his politi-
4 II l. Il u.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-02

Emperor impulsively dashed off In a March downpour. When the postillions of the Empress coach, who were labor iously urging their horses through the mud and storm, saw the Emperor stand- ing out of the rain under the porch of ! country church they were struck speech less with astonishment An equerry rid ing beside the coach looked in the direc- tino of their startled gaze and as he saw tie drcnched monarch running toward him he cried. IL 'Empereur.'
 The coach step was quickly lowered and in another moment the Emperor had his arms around the neck of Marie Louise Then he made the highly impor- tant statement. ''You are surely not afraid of mud*" But Marie Louise made a far more significant observation. "Why you are much better looking than your picturef'
 The entrapped Emperor having ordered the drivers to go at full speed to Com piegne, the imperial party flew by the gorgeous tents and whirled through Sos- sons as if it were flag station, and postilions and much bespattered coach palace of Compiegne.
 After getting rid of the inevitable cere- monies there in short order. the Elm press retired to her apartments. where she was soon joined by the Emperor He had intended to lodge her under another roof. on consulting both legal and relig- isuo advisers. he received the welcome as- surance that the marriage by proxy was a marriage in fact, as had been deter mined in the instance of Henry " and Marie de Medici.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-02

From the Phla delphia Telegraph.
 From Greensburg, Pa. there comes story of the most reckless courage and miraculous rescue from death that has illuminated the pages of any newspaper in months.
 P. ..McDonough guard about mine life in an incredible gamble to save an- other. Tony Anda, the e-year-old child of miner. is the little creature he snatched from terrible death.
 McDonbugh was showing a party of school children over the mine workings. Baby Tony accompa nied an older brother on the trip. Strayins q few feet from his guardians. the child terrified them all by toppling over the edge of shaft 400 feet deep. With low cry that reached the mine guard he vanished from view.
 McDonough plunged into the black hole as diver night leap into pleasant wa ters By graspng the cage cable, he managed to check his fall only slightly.
 In a moment he struck the anchored cage with terrible force but in time to form human mattress for the baby that landed on him an instant later. McDon- oush lost consciousness. Tony Anda twined his little arms about the mans neck and whiinpered in the darkness. Rescuers found them so when they reached the bottom of the shaft.
 The big guard suffered broken anlxls and the fracture of F ribs. The miners baby was un,njured. A miracle had oc- cured.