davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31

From the Anniston Star.
 It was a source of pride to the people of this city to note that when the people of Birmingham arrived at a full sense of the distressing state of their city fi- nances they turned to a former Annis- tonian, the Hon. Sydney J. Bowie. as the Moses most capable of leading them out of the wilderness of financial embar- rassment.
 This was a wise selection, for Mir. Bowie will make the Magic City a capable leader. He is not only a Moses man capable of drafting and executing the law, but at the same time an Aaron, man with the gift of expounding the lava speaker of words and a doer of deeds
 It is further source of qualification to note that when Mir. Bowie went about the task of selecting subcommittees to cooperate with him in relieving Bir- minghams revenue distress. he selected two other former Annistonians to head the two most important committees Frank Nelson, Jr., chairman of the com mittee on permanent relief, and John H.
 
 temporary relief.
 Again We say, wise judge, most ex- cellent judge; for among the commit tee of 100 who are lendig their talent to the relief of their city are none, we daresay, more capable than Frank Nell son and John Frye. MT. Nelson was at the head of a bank in Anniston before going to Birmingham, and since he has been residing there his efforts have con- tributed to the growth of Birmingham materially; his operations embracing real estate, coal mining and finance. His palatial home is one of the show places of the south. Mir. Frye was likewise a successful business man before he left Anniston, and it is doubtful if there is a better banker than he in the Magic City today. Certainly Birmingham has no finer citizen.
 Annistonians regretted the loss of Bowie, Nelson and Frye; but we re- joice in the recognition of their abilities in a larger sphere of usefulness; and while they have moved to another scene of business activity, their hearts are still with the Model City, an instance of which has been exemplified in the valuable services they have rendered in recent years to the Alabama Presby- terian college, Annistons rapidly grow ing institution of learning.
 Not only these three, but other An nistonians have stood foremost in the making of the Magic City, notably Col. T. G. Bush; while such men as T. E. Kilby, E. l.. Turner, R. M. Ingram, the Constantines, D. c. Cooper, w. w. Stringfelow. w. A. Davis and others, while unwilling to leave attractive An niston have lent their services toward the building of Alabamas me- tropolis. In fact had it not been for Anniston brains and money, Birming- ham would today probably be a second rate city, instead of the type city of the industrial south
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Drainina Ianaz wIth T,le

"There are thousands of acres of waste lands in the south which can be turned into the garden spots of the world" said J. A. Milsom yesterday. "if the farmers will properly drain their lands with tile.
 T know of a farm right here in Jef- ferson county which had not been rais- ing sufficient crops to pay for the seed planted. A year or so ago its owners secured the services of the United States government drainage engineer, Lewis A. Jones. whose offices are at Montgomery, and whose services to the farmers of the state are free. Mir. Jones made drainage plan for this farm mention and the drains were put in.
 T am now informed that where be, fore it would raise nothing this land after having four-inch tile put under it last year produced 60 bushels of oats per acre, one ton of peavine hay per acre and where before it pro- duced 10 bushels of corn it now pro- duces 60 bushels of corn per acre.
 "F'iguring corn at S1 per bushel the price for which it sells in this district, a clear gain of $50 per acre was made on that land in one year by drain ing it."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
BARGE-DwELLERs OF NEW YORK

BARGE-D WEILEHS OF NEW lORk Winfield Thompson, in Harpers Maga-
 zine for January.
 The lot of the harbor bargeman is not one for commiseration. He Is far more independent and content than his neigh bors in the fetid hives of the tenement districts which he sees from his barge as he floats past the river foot of East Side streets. At evening his floating home is moored in a quiet dock. He may sit on his bit of dock and enjoy his after supper pipe in quiet, as he gazes upon the darkling ripples of the water and lis tens to the dying roar of the city's busy day. His wife sits beside him, putting the last stitches in gingham garment for their. child. who already is in his bunk. Theib cabin is bright and clean, with out and within. White paint and green trimmings, a bit of striped awning and a little flagstaff, are it's outward embellish- ments. Muslin curtains at its tiny win dows, geraniums on the sills. a cheery stove, a neat re dtable cloth, home- made braided rug upon bright oil- cloth-these give character to the living room, or galley" Within is the bed- room. perhaps by feet, with a white iron bed and a bunk above it's foot, in which the son and heir sleeps peacefully. There may be a cottage in New Jersey or down Long Island sound waiting this worthy couple when winters ice closes the Hudson and ends their seasons work; but they make the barge their home while on it. Some of these barge homes shelter families of five or six persons. On some of the large covered railroad barges the shippers house is on the rof. Its dimen- sions may be 10 by 30 feet. affording three rooms. In the ''parlor'' one would not be surprised to find a sofa, music ma chine and racks of records, and family portraits in crayon, all according to usage ashore; while the captain. being in a sporting turn takes his family to sail on a Sunday in a gorgeously painted punt of his own building, with leeboa rds to make it weatherly. and a. sail setting as neatly as the canvas of a cup de- fender
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
LUKE M'LUkE SAYS

From the Cincinnati Enquirer Aou can make a woman madder by ignoring her than you can by calling her names
 When a girl marries she usually loses
 a good friend and gets a grouchy boarder.
 Politics is one of our most popular sports because you can talk it all day and not know a blame thing about it, When they are engaged they imagine
 that they can get along with one chair when they go to housekeeping. But after they have been married for awhile they want two different bedroom suites. The lad who loafs around and owes everybody in town is the same fellow who is deeply worried because the Panama canal isn't paying expenses. The old-fashioned poker player who used to walk around his chair to change his luck now has a son who can deal a
 diamond from the bottom when his stack gets low
 Before he gets her he thinks she is a
 humming bird. After he gets her he dis
 covers that she is a screech owl.
 Conscience may help some. But the fear of getting caught is what keeps
 most of us straight. woman may have no aim in life.
 
 when she starts out to shoot friend hus- band.
 There isn't any fun in fishing if you have to catch fish for a living. Before she gets him she believes all he tells her about his prowess as an ath- lete. After she gets him she discovers , that about the only sport he excels in Is throwing the bull. Once in awhile father will play foxy when he comes home with a fine bun on, and he will carefully hide his money so mother won't find it. And then he will get up with big head and a dazed feel 1 ing and stall around for an hour trying l to remember where he hid the blame l money.
 I The first baby gets silver mug, a gold ring, an ivory rattle and about $200 worth of fine baby clothes But the ] sixth baby is lucky is it gets two nap 1 kins and 10-cent box of cornstarch. | tions are lodging jobs. | The man who has 10 or II hairs on his
 dome always pities a bald-headed man. | It is hard to be a good Christian and | regard man as Charitable when he 1 owes you s10 and contributes dollar to
 the poor heather in Africa. | About the time daughter has made a l real hit with the young man who is her | last chance. father will walk into the | front room where daughter and her beau i are courting and father will want to !, know where in Sam Hill daughter put
 his safety razor after she got through
 using it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
Al DRY, DRY WAY TO SAN FRANCISCO

From the New York World.
 California representative spent the chill hours of day-after Christmas trying to find out whether the war, navy or state department will manage the ships that convey the congressional party to the San Francisco exposition. If the navy depart ment does it. Secretary Daniels dry order will make 1t "a funeral trip and T am quite certain that most members will prefer to go overland
 Sad thoughts are to be awakened which ever way the statesmen go. If they leave an almost dry Washington by Uncle .Josephus' virtuous vessels. they must gaze gloomily down the Atlantic upon water, water everywhere, and not drop of any, thing else to drink. At Panama is no rest for the thirsty; Colonel Goethals, prohib- ited by Congress from opening canteens. Is in Washington complaining that his men Ego to Panama or Colon. outside of the zone. and drink too much" At the end of the equally arid Pacific leagues they will come to a state still well irri- gated but shaken by saddening conflict between wine producers and prohibition ists.
 As for the overland route, some or the Golden Gate mans middle western col leagues can whisper, with parched lips, of whole states passed through where local law compels the dusky ''pohtah'' to lock the buffet as tight as the ughest drum. And these states are longest east and west! Fewer miles may incline Con- gress to the land route; but it is literally Hobson's choice. From a dry, dry way to San Francisco there is no escape.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
A Theorist At Work

In an editorial recently published in The Age-Herald regarding the ap- pointment of Thomas Mott Osborne as warden at Sing Sing, the fact was commented on that here was theorlst who would be given an opportunity to put his theories into practice in what has been called the worst prison Tn the United States. Judging from some recent remarks of MT. Osborne made in the course of an address to the Westside Young Mems Christian as- sociation, New York, the new treat ment of prisoners at Sing Sing has al- ready worked wonders. Treating the prisoners like humans by applying common sense," he declares, has been so effective that not one prisoner has been punished for infraction of rules since he took charge of the prison. He says that the inmates were quick to recognize that he came as a helper and his efforts to improve their condition met with a ready re- sponse.
 "The failure of the old system" :" says MT. Osborne, "is shown by the fact that two-thirds of the prisoners in the state institutions are second or third termers. Under the old system there was no effort made to give a man a chance to do the right thing. There was only brutal treatment and severity. The same severe rules ap- ply to all prisoners, and they are gen. orally all treated alike, a system that discourages men who try to redeem themselves. Ninety-five per cent of the men in Sing Sing want to do right, while the other 5 per cent are re- bellious and trouble makers. Yet under the old system the inelastic rules were so foolish that the treat ment given the rebellious per cent was also the treatment given the men who wanted to go straight
 MT. Osborne states that by giving the men a square deal the 95 per cent
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31

who want to redeem themselves now dominate the bad element. The re-
 suit has been "a wave of righteous ness," that is sweeping the prison au- thorities off their feet. There is good sense in what he says, although it still requires infinite wisdom to decide how much latitude should be given the good prisoners and how much punishment should be meted out to the bad. It is evident, however, that Sing Sing is quite different from what ;t was.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
Mock Trial at \. M. c. A.

"On Friday night at o'clock very interesting event will be held in the audi torium of the central building of the Bir- mingham Young Mems Christian associa- tion," said General Secretary W. s. Stal- lings.
 'rhe public may come prepared for joy ous entertainment. President of the City Commission Geoerge B. Ward will appear as defendant in breach of promise suit Miss Jessie May Perkins, a charming young lady and prominent in social circles of the city, will act as complainant. C. P. Beddow and Borden Burr, well-known members of the Birmingham bar, will act as prosecuting attorneys, while Hugo Black and J. H. Hale will make pleas in behalf of the defendant. Oscar C. Turner will act as sheriff. and to him will fall the selection of the jury. Ladies will not be barred. The other members of the Birmingham commission will probably be present, and for the night at least tho burden of municipal cares will probably be forgotten in the pleasures of the hour. Birmingham will be well represented so- cially, and proceedings will become live ly and mirth-provolSing in the extreme. The scandal which will be fully aired is expected to be highly edifying to those in attendance,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
WHERE KILLING COMES EASY
m Harper's Magazine,

FrOm 1dfptT B NdBdZIne.
 Papua has long been known as a bloody land. It Is bloody land still. But the blood of white men is rarely let; and the wanton slaughter of natives. the one by the other-at least in those fast widening regions which are within the sphere of the law--is fast diminishing. All this be- ing so, in one year, nevertheless, when there were 215 prisoners committed for trial, 11S of them were charged with mur- der nine with manslaughter, and five with attempted murder. To the civilized mind the motives to murder, shocking enough, to be sure-nor wanting an aspect of gruesome humor-are upon occasion incredible. As they are matters of record, however, disclosed upon painstaking in-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31

St. Privat, which is seven miles from Metz, bombarded by French troops, was the scene of desperate battle before the equalization of the fortress in the Franco Prussian war For four days a French army of 26 eco men fought against VO,OOO Prussians and Saxons. They did not retire until 10000 of them were killed or wounded. The losses on the other side were 40O00. In his tribute to the bravery Of the French soldiers, Prussian staff officer said: "Not single trophy, not a single gun was taken by us. More than 40,oOO dead and wounded show the fright full nature of the struggle on the last day, which lasted nine hours and in which the valor of the Germans triumphed only with the greatest difficulty over the stub- born resistance of the French The blame for the final defeat in the struggle is placed on Marshal Bazaine, who re- mained shut up in Metz and refused aid to the generals in the field, although fully informed of what was taking place. Zola in his great novel, "The Downfall" has painted a vivid picture of the incidents leading up to the triumph of the Ger mans over France, and has described the French generals, Bazaine among them, as amazingly incompetent.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
BELGIAN FARMS

From the Survey.
 "Imperishable Belgium is the title un- der which Bruno Lasker, discusses in The Survey the cooperative developments in agriculture and industry in the "coclx pit of Europe" From his wide studies of these activities, he says:
 Tn agriculture generally the co-opera- tion of government official and culti- vator in Belgium is more successful than in most other states. In q country of small and very small holdings, this, of course, is a matter of supreme impor- tance.
 Not counting plots of less than one acre, the average size of farms in Bel gium is no more than 141s acres. com pared with 24 acres in France, 331s in Prussia, 49 in Denmark, and 63 in Great Britain Needless to say, this includes q vast number of holdings on which family cannot exist but which form an important contribution to their income.
 Five acres of land may produce a mere trifle or as in the case of the grape growing district. outside the gates of Brussels, be enough for a satisfac- lOly hNeliioou. IL dit NEptnuS ol llic skill with which the particular holding is put to it's best use. Although much headway is made in other European coun- tries, and in the United States, also, with the organization of agricultural edu- cation, the Belgian system can claim to be unique in it's completeness and in the thoroughness with which 1t reaches and teaches eevry class of cultivators. Even more important than the educa- tional help which the Belgian farmer ac- cepts from those who are able to give it, is his cooperation with his fellow-culti-
 vators. There is hardly village which has not it's cooperative Society and hardly society which does not contain the ma
 jority of men in the district who are eligi- ble for membership. Some of the or ganizatons were established years ago by
 the government and are still partly sup ported by it. Others are founded by pri- vate endeavor.
 "The state-aided societies are doing
 most excellent work by the organization and support of agricultural shows and the supervision of experiment stations. Some of the larger of these societies have | libraries and museums carry on research, | and organize local societies for mutual | insurance, purchase, sale, improvement
 of stock, and similar undertakings"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
Growth of Soccer FootbnlI

q am glad to note that interest in soccer football is increasing in the Bir- mingham district,'' said Dave Kelso. as- sistant mine inspector.
 For the past several years those of us who introduced the game in this sec tion of the country have endeavored to get the public interested but it seemed to no avail.
 However, this season I am glad to say that greater interest has been shown than ever before and we feel that the time is not far distant when soccer foot ball will be as popular everywhere as the Americanized Rugby game that at- tracts greater crowds and inspires great CT enthusiasm than any game played in the United States
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
EVEN AS THE BEASTS

By Lord Byron. There is no hope for nations!-Search the
 page Of many thousand years-the daily
 scene. The flow and ebb of each recurring age. The everlasting To Be and Hath Been, Hath taught us naught, or little; still we
 lean On things that rot beneath our weight and
 wear Our strength away in wrestling with the
 air; For 'tis our nature strikes us down; the
 beasts Slaughtered in hourly hecatombs for feasts Are of as high an order-they must go m Even where their driver goads them
 though to slaughter. Ye men, who pour your blood for Kings
 as water. What have they given your children in
 return? A heritage of servitude and woes A blindfold bondage. where your hire is
 blows!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
Remarkable Improvement

within the past two months there mas been a remarkable improvement in busl- ness conditions in the northern half of the state.' said George Johnston of Johnston Bros. Company, wholesale dry goods mer- chants.
 "At the beginning of the European war the clouds of business depression seemed to gather with alarming rapidity, ana those men who had large uncolleeted debts scattered through the state began to see imaginary distress signals on every hnnd. My firm at first ceased to push it's sales and concentrated attention on the collecting end of the business. We were very successful in efforts to collect overdue accounts and soon found our business on a first-class financial basis Many retailers who could not settle in full made part payments and thus evi- denced a willingness to meet just obliga- tions.
 Tn view of satisfactory arrangements completed in this end of the business we are now enabled to again feel free to put new vigor into selling efforts. We cover territory surrounding Birmingham for radius of 100 miles or more; and the new year finds a great part of this field in fairly good condition There is now strong evidence that business in the industwal sections of the state will be- come especially active in the near fu- ture, and we are preparing to take ad- vantage of all the goods things the new year may bring forth
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31
ALABAMA PRESS

Anniston Star: The Age Herald wants to know what has become of the old fashioned artist who used to draw spinster with corkscrew curls waiting hopelessly under the mistletoe." Said spinster is now a suffragette, and ye old fashioned artist is wiser than of yore
 Gadsden Times News: Birminghams frequent murders are attracting d great deal of unpleasant notoriety to this state, and it is hoped that the officials of the Magic City will soon find means to cope with the situation in an efficient manner. Birmingham probably has more law breaking in proportion to the number of its inhabitants than any other city in the union. This is not a matter to be proud of, but on the contrary, it is bring ing disgrace to the state What is Bir- mingham going to do about it?
 Gadsden Journal: Birmingham has coun- terfeit $5 gold pieces in circulation Spring. ing gold piece on the trade these days should subject the passer to suspicion im- mediately.
 Talladega Home: The politicians are getting ready to start to Montgomery, where Alabama's seat of war will be located for a while.
 Selma Times: There seems to be a grow ing sentiment in favor of a big army and a bigger navy. Whatever the cost we must get ready for that invasion from the planet Mars.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-31


 yestigation, they are to be accepted, not as irresponsible tales, such as wander about the eastern seas. but as substantial facts. however singular ana incompre-, hensible they may appear. It is a matter of court record, for example, that certain natives of what is called the Coast Range, being upon trial for the murder of two carriers, whose threats they had cut, ad- , mitted the deed without the least hesita- ton, and sought to justify the ghastly business upon the ground that the car riers had appeared to be "cold and hun gry''-dejected fellows far away from their village. The prisoners had not eaten the carriers They had merely-with the most considerate expedition--cut the threats of the carriers. who were strangers, at any rate. and therefore of no great consequence; and no ingenuity of cross questioning could elicit motive ulterior to the so ingenuously ad- vanced-that the carriers, appearing to be ''cold and hungry were, in the opinion ! of the gentlemen who had incontinently cut their throats, much better dead. A similar case of merciful exterminaton concerned a young native, employed to shoot game for a white planter. who en- countered a sick man (Papuan) on the road, near by river, and strangled him to death. Upon trial he explained that the sick man had created annoyance and a considerable embarrassment as we'll by insstently requesting to be carried across the river to the other side, whence his way law forward to his village.
 Quite so," said the presiding officer. why. then, didn't you carry him across the river?"
 "He was too heavy," replied the native. Tt would have put me to a great deal of trouble.'
 Why did you kill him?'
 What else could I do? The man was sick" It was out of the question to endure the labor of carrying the sick man across the river It was equally out of the question t. abandon the pitiable object. Therefore the bewildered fellow had strangled him the most obvious way out of a dilemma which bade fair to distress his feelings