davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01

Mrs. Bessie Van Worst. the American
author who was recently married in
Paris to Hughes lie Roux, editor of the
Matin, began her literary work in this
country, although she has made her home
In Paris for sometime. She has written
a number of books. including THE Cry of
Children" and Letters to Women in
Love- With her sister-in-law, Marie
Van Worst, she made a STUDY of the
women who work in mills and factories
Some of this data was obtained from
Alabama cotton mills. 1t was published
in book entitled 1.-THE Woman Who
Tolls" and containing a preface written
by Theodore Roosevelt. NJ. lie Roux is
one of the most noted literary men of
france. He Is an officer of the Legion
OF Honor, commander of the Crown of
Italy commander of the Order of st.
Stanislaus of Prussia, and the recipient
of many distinguished decora tions. He
has won fame an explorer and is a
noted collector of animal trophies. He is
a member of the superior council of the
colonies and a member of the council of
foreign commerce. director of the
department of athletic sports of the Acad-
envy of Sports, and member of the So
ciety of Literati and the Society of ORA
matte Authors.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01

The idealst of the open fireplace re-
members the good times in the fall when
the cold had not yet arrived and when the
apples and nuts and the cider and per-
haps the baked potatoes made the even
ing delight. He forgets about the real
business of life when winter comes down
from the north and when the little old
alright heater made life worth living
after it was invented. Yes, there is lots
of poetry about an open fireplace and we
all cling to the ideals sufficiently to
have at least one built in every modern
home. 1t is useful to furnish the blaze
and the ventilation when the furnace is
on the job doing the heating. 1t is not
likely that the modern family of boys
and girls would stay at home nights any
closer nowadays If the houses had they
open fireplace system.
The family life has not disappeared in
this country. The home and family, the
evening worship, the love and accord of
each member of the home circle, de-
Ponds not on the open fireplace, the hot
air register or the steam radiator 1t is
in the hearts of those who make the
home, in the wisdom of the father and
the mother and the raising of the chill
dren. can take you to real homes in
Missouri today. real family circles where
every room in the house is used every
day and where the home would be per-
feet If the house were a cabin. And al
ways when you find this home you find
that every members of the family is busy,
has tasks to dispose of. every day and
has a pride in the work being done.
There are no homes where the family is
an idle one and where the servants rulea
the house. The home is not in the open
fireplace. my good friend, it Is in the
hearts of the home makers.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
Amusements in London

A correspondent writing from Lon
don describes the blight that has fallen
on the city's theatrical life as re-
suit of the war. In other European
capitals, with the possible exception
of Paris, we are informed that there
is little apparent change in the pleas
ure-seeking populace and theatres, as
we'll as cafes and other places OF re-
sort. are well patronized. In London,
however. the actor folks have been
hard hit and business in the theatres
is practically dead.
No doubt better conditions would
prevail, so far as stage people are
concerned, if that ever-present Tear
of a Zeppelin invasion had not given
John Bull a pronounced case OF cold
feet" and resulted in his ordering
London kept dark at night Many the
aires are closed and many others are
far from prospecting. There is a short
age of buses and drivers, too, situa-
tion which makes itself acutely felt in
London's West End amusement dis
trict. Some of the bus companies that
are still in operation have suspended
service on certain routes after 1890
and II o'clock at night.
With q pail of darkness to combat,
where once was as much gayety as
London is capable of producing, con-
ditions have quite naturally discour-
aged theatrical performers whose bus
mess in life is to entertain the public.
Although outdoor sports seem to be
INDUCED in as much, or almost as
much, as formerly, theatres no longer
attract patronage. English actors who
have contracts in this country and
are now appearing before American
audiences may consider themselves
fortunate in being out of England just
at this time, for business if not for
patriotic reasons.
However, theatrical managers in
the United States are exercising due
caution, and they are not as much
disposed to "take a chance" this sea-
son with all sorts of "road shows" as
they were before Europe's war caused
q worldwide financial panic.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
THE OLD FIREPLACE

From the Independence (Mo) Examiner.
A N editorial writer on the Kansas
~ City Star few days ago saw
1 \ picture of a family gathered
about an open fireplace or dreaming
about the days of his youth on the farm
and the open fireplace in the evening,
wrote an editorial which appeared in
the leading position in the paper of Sun
day. He localized the fireplace and the
fire and the gathering of the family and
advanced the theory that the home life
had disappeared with the coming of the
hot air register and the steam radiator.
An open fireplace does not make an old
fashioned family, neither does the mod
ern system of heating run the. young folks
away from home.
Many of us are plenty old enough to
remember the big open fireplace, the
enormous amount of wood it required
to keep it going, how the cord sticks had
to be dug out of the ice and snow, how
1t was a struggle to get the big back
log in place. how every morning the fire
had to be started over again, unless you
were cunning enough In woodcraft to
hide some Goals deep enough under the
ashes to keep them until morning how in
the early hours of the bleak days the
rooms of the house were so cold it re-
quired great courage or the insistent COM
mands of the head of the house to get
YOU up to make that fire. But this is
not all. 1t will be remembered also that
in real weather the fire from the open
side of the room baked you on one side
while the other side was frozen, and all
the day long the frost ON the windows
maintained the beauty of the formation
into pictured mountains and valley undis-
turbed by the heat from the burning logs
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
business and Polite.

In politics am an INDEPENDENT. and
Will probably remain SUCH" said S. j..
Gresham of Philadelphia.
I'm 1912 voted the democratic tick
ct and I have no regrets. In 1908 I
voted the republican ticket and was
sorry, for the Taft administration got
things In bad muddle. As to how
ssall vote in 1915 depends upon bus
iress conditions in the next IS or 20
months.
There We're two reasons why voted
Tor WILSON,: One was my admiration for
the man, and the other my predispo-
sition to tariff reform. I think the DEM
ocratfc Congress has done good work
In most respects. The Underwood tar
III suited me all right and while T
make no pretention of being a finan-
cler, the currency law is, from all ac-
counts. just what the country has long
needed. But, after all, political theory
must square with practical affairs in
business, or else something is wrong
IF we have real prosperity next year
nothing can prevent another demo-
cratic victory in 1915
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
LUKE M'LUKE SAYS

From the Cincinnati ENQUIRER
Why is it that motorman usually has
Eskimo ideas about ventilation?
Father always indignates because the
children don't want to go to bed at night
and don't want to get up in the morning.
But mother knows that the children in
herited 1t from the male side of their
parentage.
What has become of the old-fa shioned
grandma who used to wear white caps
and who told us Bible stories?
Everything that transpires happens for
the best. A long siege of tough luck
makes a man more considerate of others.
The old-fa shioned man that used to
burn the candle at both ends now has a
son who goes to bed and forgets to turn
out the electric light.
Marriage is something that changes q
sweetheart into sour heart.
A preacher doesn't have any more of a
cinch in life than you have and he is ur
against 1t about as much as you are. He
has to get call to some other church
in order to get a raise in salary.
There was n time when beauty was
skin deep. But nowadays a lot of it rubs
off IL you even touch It,
Women have it all over men as detec.
tives. You never saw a man who wal
able to follow the styles and keep track
of them.
Once upon a time a man remembered
that the day was the tenth anniversary
of his wedding and he brought home some
flowers and candy to his wife and gave
her kiss. And it took eight doctors nine
days to restore the poor woman from tn,
effect of the shock.
The soft hearted men are the best fel
lows and have the most friends. Blu
] they are usually working for and payinf
rent to the hard headed men.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
ALABAMA SANCTUMS

Selma Times: Cotton seed is selling at
Greenville for 1924 ton. In Selma it is
bringing 81. Cotton seed is now our best
ready money crop.
Pine Belt News: Many an Alabama
mule will see service on European battle
fields where the noise of field guns will
eliminate the unmusical notes that
usually greet Johnny when he enters the
stable with a basket of ear corn and
bundle of fodder.
Mobile Register: The revenue stamp on
way bills is going to prove vexatious in
the extreme. Already the government
has had to amend the practice with re.
gard to it, the law, If strictly construed
being absolutely prohibitory of certain
shipments. Why not take off the tax and
place it on bank checks?
Gadsden Times News: The Magic City
Is looking for some noiseless newsies
but thar hain't no such animal"
Canbrake Herald: Business 10 on the
rebound but few longer leaps would be
quite acceptable.
Montgomery Advertiser: We have some
unpaid school teachers in Alabama. The
trainers of the next revenue bill will
have something to think about.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
Brighter Side of Cotton Situation

/
Out of all the agitation against a
large cotton acreage next year is
coming a settled notion that there
will be some reduction in the planting,
but just how much is the question.
In former years when it seemed de-
sirable to reduce the cotton crop many
farmers who spoke out in favor of the
reduction proposition planted more
instead of less. Not in long time,
however, have the farmers had such
severe experience as now. With
many of them reduced acreage will be
an absolute necessity and with all far
seeing and business-like farmers it
should certainly seem advisable.
Some of the largest planters-men
of high standing in the business
world-feel almost ready to guarantee
that no more than 40 per cent of the
normal cotton acreage will be Guilt
waited in the south next year. That
would mean that Alabama would pro-
duce instead of something like 1,5O0,-
900 bales only between 100000 and
100000 bales 1t would mean that the
south would produce instead of 49,
100000 bales less than 100000
bales.
If the planting and banking inter-
ests now insisting on reduced acre
age can persuade the farmers to make
just 80 per cent of crop-S,00 900
bales instead of 10000, 0O0-great good
would be accomplished. Such a reduc-
| ton would mean that those who hold
their cotton of this years crop would
get from IL to Is cents a pound. If
the government report issued on the
first of May sets forth the fact that
60 per cent crop has been planted
even then cotton would command a
good price.
! While cotton will be the chief money
crop in the cotton belt for some years
| to come; while it will be the farmers
ainstay-something that will always
sell for cash no matter how low the
price-crop diversification must in
time add greatly to the south's wealth.
Alfalfa, oats and corn have been
raised in Alabama in recent years on
such scale as to lend encouragement
to all progressive farmers who would
expand along the line of crop diversi-
| fication. But there must be some or
ganized plan for marketing hay and
grain. The farmer who ships bay and
corn to Birmingham must be assured
of stable prices. The sweat of his brow
should not be in vain. In Louisiana
and other southern states marketing
associations are being formed, and we
must have something of the kind here
in Alabama.
But coming back to the cotton ques-
ton, it behooves every planter to
make comparatively little cotton and
to make the acreage that he does
plant yield more abundantly to the
square inch.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
APPEARANCES MIsLEAD

Girard, in the Philadelphia Public
Ledger.
Bret Harte wrote in one of his
stories that you couldn't Judge any
thing by appearance Of his characters.
The biggest scamp had Raphael face
the bravest man In camp was the
smallest. the surest shot had but three
fingers. and the best dressed was the
worst gambler in the state.
The same rule often works out in
real life. Nobody wrote more dry phi
losophical books than Englands prize
philosopher, Lord Bacon. But one day
while i'll. and without consulting any
works of reference, he dictated vol
ume of Jokes which is still the best
collection to be found in London.
When Stephen Crane wrote his RED
Badge of Courage" old soldiers thought
the author must have gone through the
war Just out of college, Crane had
scarcely ever heard gun fired off. and
he was not born until years after APP
pomattox.s
A 220-pound bully was making trou-
BILE In a Philadelphia street railway
car when a small. pleasant faced youth
demonstrated. Every one expected t
see the giant literally crush the young
mar who had interfered. As they step
pec off the car the bully was knocked
senseless by blow of the others fis
tho fist of BILLY" Recap. who Their
was champion amateur lightweight
boxer of America.
heard Bob Burdette. the funny man
| tell how the soldiers laughted at q
Dung fop of a cavalry officer until
| they saw him just once leading a
| charge. Then they knew it was Gen.
cytl Custer. and they laughted 10 more
| So you cannot always tell what Il
/ In a mans head or his fist by his
personal appearance or by his previous
work
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
BETTER Tone in Rural District,

81 have not made a trip through the
state since October, but, of course. keep
in touch with the various cities and
towns, and I am glad to say there is a
much more buoyant feeling among mer-
chants and farmers than there was q
lew weeks ago. said Hugh NJ. Brown,
the well known shoe factory agent
may make short trip between now
and Christmas, but I shall not expect
to do much business until the new year.
Many OF the farmers who have held their
cotton will get good prices for 1t in the
spring, assuming that the planting acre.
age is reduced in 1876
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
As To Cotton

One of the best cotton brokerage
houses of New York in circular of
Saturdays date said in part:
Trade is obviously improving both
at home and abroad and 1t naturally
must follow that the manufacturers
need for raw cotton will increase. If
the American spinner because of a
present ample supply does not care to
add to his stock of raw material, let
him protect himself against his future
needs by purchases of New York OPP
tons which, under our present system
of grading, conforming in every way
to the provisions of the Lever bill, will
insure him spinnable cotton IL he
elects to take delivery. Such policy
entails little risk, while on the 9TH
err hand, If the expected acreage reduce
ticn next spring takes place and a gen.
eral textile trade boom, which is pre-
dicted by some of our more farseeing
influential captains of industry, devel-
ops, options purchased around the pres
en-, level of prices ought to prove a
very profitable investment"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
To Promote Southern Development

10 Tromote southern Development
The Southern Commercial congress,
which met in Mobile in 1913, will hold
its next annual meeting in Washing
ton d. c., December IL. In view Of
the large immigration outlook this
meeting should be particularly well
attended by representative southern
men.
Two active bodies are now in the
field to deal with the immigration
question as it relates to the south
the Southern Commercial congress and
the Southern Settlement and Develop
ment organization. The latter is the
younger body of the two, but it is
well differed and its plans are at
once comprehensive and practical.
The railroads are in a position to
help largely in the immigration move
ment. The Southern Railway com
pany is certainly alive to the import
ance of bringing Belgians and other
desirable Europeans to the south. The
two organizations referred to by CO.
operating with the railroads should
be able to accomplish a great deal
within the next year or two.
Alabama's commissioner of immi-
grafton will as matter of course,
be expected at the Southern Com
mercial congress meeting on December
IL, and it would be we'll for the Bir-
mingham Chamber of Commerce to be
represented there.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
WAR ECHOES

London Dispatch in the New York
World; new story of the British en-
counter with the Prussian Guard was told
| today by corporal of the Warwickshire
regiment who Is now at home wounded
He said: "On the night the guard at
tackled us around Ypres it was only by
the merest chance and bit of herosm
that we were warned in time. There
was an Irishman of the Kings Liverpool
to visit young woman whose home
was off the line of attack
Coming back late he stumbled on some
Germans stealing quietly toward our po-
sition. Without a thought of himself, but
only concerned for the safety of his COM
rades, he dashed toward the spot where
he knew our guard to be, to give the
alarm The Germans spotted him and a
cavalry patrol was at his heels instantly.
He had a good start. but toward the end
he was hit in both legs. He got through
pital getting well. He doesn't know
whether he will get a medal or wig
ging' for being out of bounds, but he's
hoping for the best
London Cable to the New York Herald:
The Herald's naval correspondent writes
1.-THE Bulwarlx disaster at Sheerness is
SO strikingly similar to the destruction of
the Maine at Havana that the possibility
of an outside cause contributing to the
magazine explosion already is in the
minds of the naval authorities, but from
inquiries ! have made, from interviews
with persons on the spot and from talks
with the highest officers of the royal
navy L find that so far all are agreed
that it is a mystery which will repay
the closest investigation, but which does
not offer a promise of a solution on the
scanty facts known at present of inabil-
ity to obtain access to the magazine, etc.
1.-THE theory that the magazine was
exploded from an unknown cause but
without outside or contributory causes is
sustained by the similarity of the explo-
sion with the explosions on board the
Japanese Mikasa and the French Liberte
and the Jena.
''The possibility of coal combustion must
also be considered. The curious case of
the Botterell, a British sloop, which was
blown up in the Straits of Magellan, also
is recalled, as the inquiry in this case
indicated that it was an explosion of,
paint which was to blame"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
Annual Reports of Department Heads

The cabinet officers-heads of de-
partments-have been busy recently
on their annual reports. Most of these
reports will contain dry statistics, but
they will be of great practical interest
to q large part Of the public.
The report of the Secretary Of
Treasury will inform the nation on it's
financial condition. The Secretary of
Commerce will present many impor-
tant facts and make suggestions and
recommendations that will be helpful
to the business world. The Post
master General has, it is believed,
administered his department with ex-
A,eptional economy. The Secretary of
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
MARK TWAIN'S MEMORY

From an article by Mark Twain, published
for the first time in Harpers Magazine
for December.
~ ATES are hard to remember be-
cause they consist of figures; fig
- ures are monotonousy unstriking
in appearance, and they don't take hold,
they form no pictures, and so they give
the eye no chance to help. Pictures are
the thing Pictures can make dates stick.
They can make nearly anything stick
particularly if you make the pictures
yourself Indeed, that is the great point
make the pictures yourself. / know
about this form of experience. Thirty
years ago l was delivering a memorized
lecture every night, and every night |
had to help myself with a page of notes
to keep from getting myself mixed. The
notes consisted of beginnings of sentences,
and were eleven in number and they ran
something like this:
I'm that region the weather--
"At that time it was custom
But in California one never heard
Eleven of them. They initiated the
brief divisions of the lecture and pro-
tected me against skipping. But they all
looked about alike on the page; they
formed no picture; / had them by heart
but | could never with, certainty remem-
Der the order of their succession; there
fore 1 always had to keep those notes oy
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-01
FILM HERO FEELS THE PART

From the New York Sun.
II have been mixed up with hero stunts
in the making of photoplays until !
really feel l am one" said a member of
film company. "Of course, all have
heard the old story OF the actors who
saw thew feel themselves to be certain
character because they have played the
mart SO long, but where is there an ac-
ton of the indoor stage that equals that
Of the great stage of nature, in the broad
open?
For instance. a man may say he feels
| he is Othello, or Macbeth, or Romeo, but
where are the trimmings to help sup
port the illusion-or delusion? Now, in
my case I have been cast In fully 80
photoplays that have a cowboy environ
ment l have not been the star. but I
have had to do lot side by side with
stars. There's no make believe about It.
1 have had to ride hard and ride pretty
fast could always ride little, but !
have improved through the film plays.
beyond all question.
1--WE had to mount hurriedly and
scurry away at pretty good clip. I've
had to learn how to make pretty fair
fall from the saddle while the horse was
under way. I've had to ride through
real water right up to my knees. I've had
to take few chances with house that
was really burned; not desperate chances
but enough to sivs the blood Jingle