davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
PRECEDENTs
From the Selma journal.

FROM the Selma Journal
The chief criticism of President Wilson
is that he violates precedents. 1t is the
same old cry. Every time a man has
strength of character enough to arise
above conditions and customs he is al
ways accused of precedent violations.
For many years presidential messages
have been a joke. No one read them
and Congress paid little attention to the
clerk rafting off the words at record
speed. Administrations were compelled
to trade in patronage to use political
strategems to get measures through Con-
gress.
President Wilson knew this. He wanted
his opinions considered and by appear
Ing before Congress in person he accom-
plished his desire. Every congressman
with the possible exception of Mr. Hob
SOM is in his seat when President VIII
son delivers his messages. The messages
are brief and to the point. He has sue
ceeded more than any President in 30
years of getting the legislation he de-
sired. He violated precedents to be sure,
but he accomplished things and with the
people this is what counts.
Washington is heavily laden with prec-
edent. A woman cannot give an after
noon tea without observing rank. The
wives of the cabinet members and the
supreme court justices must have their
lemon before the wife of a common con-
gresham gets look in. If an army lieu
tenants wife gets the sugar before
congressman's wife, the party breaks up
in a row.
Washington precedents.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
HOW DIAMONDS ARE MINED
Popular Mechanics.

FROM fOpuldT MeCudflCS,
Machinery and barbed wire have sup
planted the crude methods of breaking up
diamond bearing blue earth and protect
ing the valuable finds employed 20 years
ago in the South African diamond mines
The depths of the strange crater shaped
hole in which the peculiar diamond bear
ing earth is confined is now penetrated by
shafts. reaching hundreds of feet down
into the earth, with 40-foot levels The
broken earth is removed in closed trucks
to the surface, where, after season of
exposure to sun and atmosphere, strewn
on the ground, 1t is hauled to the mills.
Here pulsators finally locate the diamonds
on grease covered inclined tables, to
which the diamonds adhere, while loose
sand, earth and gravel are washed away
by water. Acres of ground, covered by
broken earth brought up from the mines.
contain possibly millions of dollars worth
of gems, and these treasure-troves are
protected by high fences of barbed wire,
with intricate arrangements at the cor
ners and at the gates. About 4000 miles OF
wire are used in the defenses about the
Kimberley mines.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21

] tion is tantamount to the theorem
that yellow fever is common in Flor
ida; Florida is the land of alligators;
ergo, alligators are conductive to yell
low fever.
1t is true that music has often con-
tributed to the inspiration of a peo-
pie and that many of mans most
glorious achievements have been the
results of its SPELL Ca Ira and the
Marseillaise have aroused France to
deeds of unparalleled splendor, La
Carminogle has created heroes by the
thousands and Die Wacht am Rhine
aroused to feats of prowess the sink
ing heart of the German legions.
When Taliaferro rode out from the
ranks to do battle upon the field of
Hastings he twirled his spear into the
air and filled his comrades with en-
thusiasm by his song of the Battle of
Roncevalles and victory was theirs.
The war songs of the German tribes
spread terror among the Roman pha-
lanxes, and while not factor in the
saving of Fort McHenry The Star
Spangle Banner was penned in mo-
ment of intense patriotic stress. What
water is to the wanderer of the desert
was Dixie to the south in the dark
but-glorious days of the sixties, and
so through history has music been the
stacatto in the chorus of warfare and
the strophe in the drama of life.
But nature sings when happy and
to burst into song is but the express
sion of nature in man. Because we
whistle to keep up our spirits" does
not gainsay the fact that sempiternal
hallelujahs and everlasting gratitude
will continue to find expression in
music when prosperity, peace and
plenty obtain throughout the uni
verse.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
Mayor Mitchel's Headaches

CITY Chamberlain Bruere of New
York has suggested to DR.. Simon
Flexner. head of the Rockefeller in
stitute, that a scientific study be
made of the headaches from which
Mayor Mitchell suffers at periodic in
tervals. Although Mr. Mitchell has
been subject to these attacks for eight
years, no satisfactory explanation has
ever been made as TO what causes
them, his own physician acknowledge
ing that they are somewhat of a mys-
terry. Mr.. Mitchell attributes his head
aches to a bush fever which he con-
tracted in South America, but he con-
tinues to suffer and continues to get
no relief, although it is stated that
the pain seizes less often now than
formerly.
DR.. Flexner was interested in the
suggestion and we may be treated to
the spectacle of the Rockefeller in
stitute endeavoring to solve a prob
lem that is closely associated with
civic betterment, since the more May
or Mitchell suffers from headaches the
less able is he to attend to his duties
in that wise and conscientious man
ner expected of him.
Why shouldn't the best efforts of
scientists be enlisted to ameliorate
the condition Of public men who suf-
fer from complaints that impair their
usefulness? 1t is a public matter in
one sense and should not be beneath
the dignity of even the Rockefeller
institute. Suppose, for instance, that
when Mr.. Taft became President, the
most acute minds in the world of
science had been focused on the prob
lem of reducing his weight and con-
verting his disposition from a slug
gish one to keenly active one? Who
will venture to assert that he would
not have made a different sort of
President? He might have changed
the course of history as it had never
been changed before, and while fat IS
not exactly a disease, 1t is undoubted-
ly an affliction which may prove a
serious handicap to a statesman,
whose mind should be ever alert
If a public man has a chronic
crouch not traceable to the unsatis-
factory condition OF public affairs,
:, science should endeavor with every
means at its command to effect a
cure. And the cost of the cure should
be charged to the taxpayers who are
thus guaranteed more able leader
ship. A man physically unfit who
holds the destinies of his fellows in
his hands may fail them at a critical
moment and leave his hopeful con-
stituents in the lurch. Toothache has
made tyrants of monarchs who would
lave been amiable enough without it;
headache, stomachache and backache
are to be reckoned with.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
THE FREE LUNCH FORK

From the New York Sun.
simple ruling by Health Commission
er Goldwater caused CONSERVATION yester-
day from the effete Battery to the very
furthest outpost of civilization in the
Bronx. DR.. Goldwater announced that
the free lunch fork has to go. Last
week this metropolis had an earthquake
and a blizzard, but such upheavals are
transitory. The passing of the free
lunch fork. though, means that the last
landmark of the old freedom is lost for
ever in this hygienic era
Wherever select coteres of cafe ath-
letes and cheese and cracker connois-
seurs were gathered together the fare
well to the free lunch fork was couched
in indignant and reactionary terms. The
next step would be to place an embargo
on the cheese knife and the wooden ladies
that dip out Bermuda onions and sauer-
kraut. Is this free country with free
lunch counters, or is it not? If not, as
the father of Huckleberry Finn said pub
licly, for 2 cents we would quit such a
country.
What made the food experts sneer and
laugh with caustic mirth was the follow
ing statement:
Or Goldwater suggests that food at
the free lunch counter be prepared in
individual packages so as to make artl-
fetal eating tools unnecessary
Keen students of free lunch offerings
admitted that dried leather herrings
ought to be served en- casserole. Likewise
every lover of real country sausage (all
made in Chicago) did say that in order
to be cooked in it's own aroma there
should be a miniature chatting dish for
each sausage And If pretzels should be
preserved ''in individual packages" to
use the health commissioners nice idea
of course the effect would add to their
native elasticity, just as stogies may
be kept humid all the year round. Yet
all this cheap wit was unable to divert
these attentive minds from the actual
root of their sorrow-the taking away of
the fork, their fork, that stood like tho
old oalSen bucket in a well of water.
What good is the sight of baked beans
without the handy fork? There will be
a mental statue erected behind every
free lunch in town: Tantalus personified
as DIR. Goldwater.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
AT SAINT GEORGES

BY Clinton Scolard. 4
When the north wind roars with it's icy
orgies,
And snow swirls darken the face of day
Come where the town of old Saint
Georges
Sits by the blue of it's crescent bay!
Sits in the sun and dreams and dozes
From the moil and the toll of the world
apart,
While the palm trees wave in the high
walled closes,
And the fragrant roses show red at
heart.
Softly the bell in the ancient tower
Tells the hour. be 1T night or noon:
And the cardinal bird, like winged
flower.
Sings in time to- the mellow tune
There is naught be i-n and naught be-
holden
OF the strife of " din,
While loquats ri, M f golden.
And bark s trk slipe
in.
All remembra icing
Seem as fa' ~
Just the dEif Ing
Under the sky!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21

by the dupes of the imposture and an
ejectment action against the trustees of
the Tfchborne estates finally came before
Chief Justice Bovil and a special jury
at the court of common pleas on May II,
1871.
For 103 days the trial went on, and it
was not until Sir John Coleridge, in a
speech of unparalleled length, laid bare
the whole conspiracy from its inception.
that the result ceased to be doubtful. The
evidence of the Tichborne family con-
vinced the jury, who declared that they
wanted no further evidence, and on March
3, 1872 Sergeant Ballantine, who led for
the claimant, declared that the case was
nonsuited.
When Orton had lost his suit the de-
fense at once arrested him and placed him
on trial for perjury, as well as several
of his witnesses. This second trial
dragged on for 1Ss days, the longest trial
ever held in England, and large sums
of money were subscribed by the indig-
nant British populace to help the accused
man.
This second suit was begun in 1873 be-
fore Chief Justice Cochran. The defendant
showed his old qualities of impudence
and endurance, but the indiscretion of his
counsel Edward Kennealy, the testimony
of his former sweetheart, and Kennealy's
refusal to put the Orton sisters in the
box proved conclusively to the Jury. who,
after a half hours deliberation, found
that the claimant was Arthur Orton.
Orton was found guilty of perjury on
airy Is, 1874, to IA years penal servitude
The cost of the two trials was estimated
at something not far short of 81 00o. Co.,
and of this the Tichborne estate was
mulcted of fully $4,000
The claimant better class supporters
had deserted him before the second trial.
but the people who had subscribed for
his defense were convinced that he was
prosecuted man. There was symptoms
of a riot in London in April, 1873, when
Parliament unanimously rejected a mo-
ton by Keannea1y for referring the Tich-
borne case to a royal commission, and
the military had to be held in readiness
But the agitation subsidized and when Or
ton emerged from jail in 1884 the tickle
public took no interest in him. Orton
came to America on lecturing tour, and
resided for time in New York city. He
finally returned to England, where he
sank into poverty and oblivion, dying in
obscure lodgings in Marylebone on April
3 1898.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
WIDOWS LIVE LONG

From the New York World.
News comes from Knoxville, Tenn, of
| the death of 'Parson" Brownlow's widow.
at the age of 95 Few people knew that
until so lately there remained this living
link with the famous ''fghting parson,,
of war times, whom Tennessee expelled
because OF his bold attacks upon seces-
sion. but afterward recalled to be it's gov
ernor.
Yet how many widows of distinguished
men have survived their husbands so lons
| that they have seemed to trail phantoms
of history through the living realities OF
a later generation
In the town of Charlotte, N c., Mrs.
Stonewall Jackson is still living. 1t is
| nearly 3S years since Custers last fight.
yet Mrs. Elizabeth b. Custer is still alive
and we'll Mrs. n p Willis died only a
/ few years ago in Washington, though
| the literary career of her brilliant hus-
band reached it's height long before the
civil war, The widow of jefferson Davis
lived until 1906. Gen. George Pickets
widow is still alive Alexander Haml-
toms wife survived him full 50 years and
died at the ripe age of 81.
TO go further into the world, Frau
Cosima Wagner still seeks to guard with
Jealous care the work of the great genius
who seems to the youth of this genera.
| ton as remote as Mendelssohn, who died
| S6 years earlier. Carlotta, former EN-
press of Mexico, widow of the ill-fated
Macmillan, il we are not mistaken. still
| lives. little thought could readily ex-
! tend the list.
| Most wonderful of all the widows is the
pathetic parsonage whom visitors to the
| sunny shores of southern France at this
time of year may see any mornings
shrunken figure in black. leaning ON q
stick, amid the palms and roses of hei
garden-now a faded old woman whose
name itself is half memory. but for
| merly the idol of great nation, mistres.
of a brilliant court, acclaimed in her owl
country and abroad the most beautiful
woman in Europe--the former Empress
Eugene widow of Napoleon III, wht
has outived well nigh half century the
! vanished glories of her husbands reign.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21

~ NE OF the most remarkable trials
of recent years was that of
- Arthur Orton, who claimed to be
the long lost Roger Tichborne, and heir
to the Tichborne title and estate. This
was one of the most interesting cases of
all history and lasted over a number of
years and involved great many per-
sons.
When Sir Edward Tichborne, the ninth
born of that name, died, he left an es-
tate that netted about 100000 a year. He
had no son, and his nephew, James Tich-
borne, was his heir James had two
sons, Roger and Alfred. Roger naturally,
being the elder, would have been the
heir of James, but when the father died
all trace of him had been lost. He had
started for New York by sea, but the
fate of his ship was never known. He
was officially declared dead, and the
Tichborne fortune fell to the younger
brother, Alfred.
All this happened in 1852. The mother
never gave up hope of finding her first
born, and in 1866 she offered reward for
any information that would be forthcom-
ing regarding Roger. In response to this
offer, an Australian detective agency pro-
duced a man, known as Thomas Castro,
whose real name was Orton, and an
nounced he was the missing heir.
Orton left Australia for England, where
he gathered all the information he could
regarding Rogers early life, and then
proceeded to Paris, where Lady Tichborne
was living. and he was able so fully to
convince her that she accepted him as
her son. The mother claimed to recognize
him, and officers of his old regiment were
sure it was Roger Tichborne. He was
able easily to answer all questions, and in
1S1-Lady Tichborne having died thEee
years previously-he brought formal
suit for his rights.
The Tiehborne estate defended the case
fiercely, asserting that the claimant was
Orton, the son of London butcher, and
backed this charge with powerful testi-
mony. The claimant, on the other hand,
brought forward sailors who swore that
they had taken him from the wreck of the
i'll fated Bella, and Orton called as wit
nesses the dozens of old acquaintances
who recognized him. He proved he had
wound on the head and brown mark on
the side, both of which Roger had had.
For months the legal battle waged. A
number of "Tichborne bonds to defray
the expenses of litigation were taken up
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
TROUBADOUR AND JESTER
RECIPROCITY.

1tE11I hO0l11.
Perhaps you think this job 1 have
Is what you call cinch;
But 1t is no soft snap to slave
AT just SO much an inch.
If when this space upon this page
You daily read. Youll smile,
Although tbs often persiiage
You'll make it worth the while
To scratch my head behind, before
In search of joke or rhyme;
And then perchanee the editor
VIII raise my wage dime.
A SHORT CUT.
Telegraph Editor: "The wires say the
Mexican rebels have made a dash for
Chichauha, but have forgotten how to
spell it."
Managing Editor: Then do as the
rebels did and make - for it,"
A MUSICAL EAR
When dark and stormy is the night
In February bleak,
I'd rather hear the kettle sing
Than Madame Human-Shriek
NOT A SIREN.
I'm going to buy an auto,
But all agents are warned
Will have no other kind
Save one that's been dehorned.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
Hardly Recognized Birmingham

"One who knew Birmingham in 1886
and had not seen it since until now,
would scarcely recognize it," said Henry
B. Robinson of Cincinnati
This city had gained quite a reputa-
tion as coal and iron center in the
SOS, but | believe it was not until the
steel plant was built in Ensley in the lat
ter part of the 90's that it got we'll on the
map. 1t is a magnificent city now, and
with its 100000 or 100000 population and
with its splendid improvements IL makes
great impression on the visitor"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21

ing up appendicitis cases, he learned that
in II per cent of the operations for that
disease, the rostmortem examinations
showed that the appendix was in perfect
condition. THE whole subject he added.
reminds me of a true story l heard
in London recently. In the hospitals there
the ailment of the patient, when he is
admitted, is denoted by certain letters.
such as IT. b. for tuberculosis An
American doctor was examining these
history slips, when his curiosity was
aroused by the number on which the let
ters C. o. r. appeared. He said to
the physician who was showing him
around
There seems to be a severe epidemic
of this G.. o. x. in London. What 10
it. anyhow?
% oh, that means "God only knows,"'
replied the English physician"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
TRYING
From '"rhe North Country of New York,
by Irving Racheller,

From The North Country of New York, =
by Irving Bacheler.
Early in the last century a traveller on
the old Chateauguay trail met a man go
ing west with his OK cart. One of the
wheels had been broken, and the mover
was mending it. His wife lay sick on a
feather bed. under a bark lean-to. His
children were shivering in a cold rain. In
spite of all this the man was singing as
he worked He greeted the newcomer with
a merry jest and the latter said to him:
my friend, how in Gods name do
you manage to keep so cheerful?''
I've got to- said the mover in a low
tone as he paused In his task "Ye see,
I've got to make them believe that we're
havin' good time, an it keeps me awful
busy. Today l can hardly, believe it N.Y.
self"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
SHE WAS NO EASY MARK

FTOIH IHppIHCUll 8.
Martha is seven, and has shown more
than the ordinary childish aversion to
learning lessons, being washed, and hav-
ing curls made smooth and shining, and
less than the average delight in fairy
tales. One day upon her return from
Sunday school she was questioned as to
what she had learned from her nice
teacher this time. She cried out with
flashing eyes and an indignant toss of
her pretty head, why, mamma. my
teacher told me today that story about
the Children of Israel walking across the
Red sea and not getting themselves wet
one single bit--and she es-pected me to
believe it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
Back From Chicago

b. b. Burton of the Cable-Shelby-B Bur-
ton Piano company, returned yesterday
afternoon from Chicago, where he had
spent several days.
Business in Chicago is very brisk, in
deed, said Mr. Burton. Everybody | met
spoke of prevailing active conditions in
that city. Even if trade activity is not
up to high mark, one finds few or no
croakers in Chicago But at this time
business man does not have to make
much inquiry. Prosperity is obvious"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
DYsPEPTIC PHILOSOPHY

From the New York Times.
Lots of people who aren't very sharp
nevertheless have their good points.
Love makes the world go round. not to
mention large part of it go broke.
Many a fellow Las married for money
without ever being able to collect.
The sweetest music in the world is the
duet played by the horn of plenty and the
trumpet of fame.
Even luck may be handicapped by lazi-
ness.
Inc proper time for man to marry is
wnen he hasn't anything else to worry
him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
COSTLY JUSTICE

From Everybody's.
A colored gentleman, on trial for his
life in a remote Tennessee town, was
asked by the judge IL he had anything
to say whereupon he replied:
'All has to say is this, judge IL you
hangs me. you hangs the best bass singer
in Tennessee
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
BEGINNING THE DAY--Gr

BEtsINNING THE DAf--Grnnt me
grace this day. Lord, to think
of my duties rather than of my
rights. May my zeal be in giving,
not I'm getting; in loving, not In be-
ing loved. May l look with under
standing eyes upon even my work
and sec in II an instrument of scrv-
ice to all men. For Christ's sake.
Amcn.--H. VI. Il.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21

Vice-President Marshall, who is reported
to have spoken rather slightingly of his
of a 'gin MILL has apologized on dis
covering that the gentleman in question
is really quite a prominent purveyor of
soul tickling drinks.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
.G.. o. X.
From Life.

From Life.
A needless surgical operation may be
poor fun for the victim, but the surgeon
himself seems to have a sense of humor.
This anecdote, printed in The Open Door,
throws its ray of light into dark places:
Mr.. Roger W. Babson says that In look
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21

The backwardness of oriental civilization
is now being blamed on the hooxworm.
If that's the case, it would take more
money than John D. has to eradicate the
hookworm from the population of India,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Underwood's Etowsb Strength

Underwood will carry Etowah
county over Hobson by at least 500
majority" said W. f. Showers of At
talla, president of the Birmingham
Ore and Mining company
"Hobson had much strength in Eto-
wah when the senatorial campaign
started, but Underwood has been stead
lily gaining over him.
Industrial conditions are fairly
brisk in the Gadsden section. The Gulf
states Steel company gives evidence of
great prosperity. One of the best evi-
denoes of its good business is that 1t is
considerably behind with its orders
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21

Having once obtained evidence against
Governor Blease of South Carolina by
means of the dictagraph, Detective Burns
is now afraid to lecture in that state, for
fear that Blease may have him arrested.
He is evidently under the impression that
there are some men the governor won t
pardOn
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-21
A Beautiful Entertainment

THE ladies of the Birmingham Art
club deserve the cordial thanks of this
community for the beautiful tableaux
and beautiful music, in connection with
scenes from 'Rubaiyat,' presented Wed
nesday and Friday nights" said Oliver
Chalifoux. 1T is safe to say that no
such tableauX were ever seen here. And
1t is gratifying to be able to state that
the entertainments were well patrin-
lied. The Cable hall. where they were
given, was crowded at a dollar ticket
The hope has been quite generally ex-
pressed that the tableaux and music
be repeated next week"