davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

masn3f fieent skill in effert'ng a Withdraw
ing and invited him to Venice to be feted.
The wiley soldier fell into the trap; he
complied with the invitation and amid
great eclat was conducted into the Doge's
palace. hut he never came out again ex-
cept to expatatc his crime between the
fatal Pillars Of the piazetta. The Bridge OF
Signs connects the palace with the prison.
One of these pillars Is surmounted by
the lion of st. Mark and the other by a
statre Of st. Theodore It is considered
III lucls 10 pass between them but l ahve
frequently made the passage There were
originally three OF these pillars, but one
fell into the sea when 1t was being landed
and Was never recovered Between the
remaining two state criminals are ex-
ecuted and tradition gives the assigning
of this SPOT to such uneanny performances
10 rather peculiar incident 4 Doge
h1d psemised to grand the request of
anyone who coald safeiy place the
columns in position. it was accomplished
10y one who asked to be allowed to main-
tain public gambling table between the
two. Tho promise could not be revoked.
but to render 1t null and void 1t was de-
creed that all criminals should In the
future be executed ON that spot. Ill omen
broke mp the gambling business, Hither
Carmagnola was led. gagged. and with
his hands tied behind him Yet defiant in
demeanor to the last. His head fell ar
the third blow of the AK and while it
rcr Sired for three DAYS upon the stone.
according to custom. it was a month ere
the blood stains were washed away.
The other character is the beautiful
Catherine Cornaro. the unfortunate queen
of Cypress. Her sad marriage was a po-
litical one contracted to further the
prowess of the republic, but after BRIEF
reign she was ahandoner by the state
and compelled to abdicate. The remainder
of her life was spent In seclusion in res
treat near the mountains.
am not unmindful of that stern Doge
who condemned his own son to the block
nor of the fatal lions mouth. the mention
OF the name of which caused men OF
every rank in life to shudder. Napoleon
carried the head away, but the fataA
aperture stil remains and through this
aperatre | have more than once thrust
my hand.
The art Of Venice in some respects
surpasses that of Rome or Florence, for
while among the eanVases of the vatican
or Uffizi one realizes that he is gazing
at pictures, wonderful and appealing
though they be, but in the academy one
feels as though he were moving among
living beings. though they belong to a
past era, and breathing an atmosphere of
a time when love of life, spiendor OF
apparel. majesty of power, glory of pres
tlge, ealantry, coquetry and intrigue per-
meated the hour and gave spice to ex-
istenee. Yes. one loves Venice for her
past and in the spell that she creates he
lives over again with her that past SO
long as he fingers within her confines
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

to perform any manual labor other than
that pertaining to his profession. When
he becomes too old for the service he as
is to attend the public landings with
long hooked pole by which he grapples
and steadies the gondola while the pas
senger Is entering or quitting the boat, for
which service he eXaets small fee
Excepting an occasional cat or pet dog
there is no animal life in Venice save the
pigeons and mosquitoes. The only horse
there is one maintained at the public gar
den and it is visited upon Sundays by the
nurses, who carry the children there to
show them the strange an.mal, as we take
our little ones to see a camel or elephant.
The city has no back yards; the small
canals take their place. nor have | ever
noted Venetian blind in any of the
houses. This matter of fact recalls that L
have never seen a hand organ in all Italy,
much as we associate the Dago with that
street instrument in this country.
To the observant characteristic features
are apparent upon all sides, A majority
of its churches are dedicated to and
named after Old Testament saints, so that
Ciobbe. Noise, Zaccaria and Geremia are
encountered at almost every turn. The
wearing of earrings by men of the lower
classes is we'll night universal Every
boy has Giovanni in his name and every
girl sports a Maria In hers. These APP
pellations are supposed to protect the
bearer thereof from the power of witches
The women marry young and SO scarce
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25
By BERNARD ASTON

be necessary for each electoral division
to maintain a permanent electoral COM
mittee which could be summoned when
necessary to pronounce judgment on
the deputy's conduct.
These committees would have other
Ises. They would elect delegates to a
central electoral curia for the whole
country; and this electoral curia wou,1
exist independently of Parliament ano
would act as supreme court in all dis
putes as to the validity of elections. Con-
tinental parlaments would thus be de-
prived of their present right of judging
election disputes, and the word wout1
not witness such scandals al occurred re-
Gently when Prussia's Diet pronounced i'll
valid the election of four socialist MEM
bers who were elected in entire confor-
nance with the law.
These measures would all have the Of
feet of limiting the omnipotence of Parla-
ment. But Zenker declares that this omn.-
potence of Parliament is the cause Of
half the evil. The Engish constitutions
principles that Parliament can do any
thing" is wrong; and the trainers of the
United States constitution acted with
great wisdom in not transplanting the
principle to America. Reform must be in
the direction not only of limiting parlia-
mentary power. but also of limiting par
liamentary functions. Confusion, unfruit-
fulness and corruption are caused by the
fact that one and the samo Parliament
regulates political questions which con-
Germ the whole nation and economical
que stions which often involve merely
pocket conflicts between individuals and
classes. As result, matters which con-
Germ the whole nation are subordinated
TO various deals, squeezes, and more or
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

ter of amazement and surprise to tho
producers themselves. because there. as
elsewhere. II had been supposed that
the lands were worthless for farming
purposes
The United States experimental farm
is located at Fairbanks. There are
about 30 acres under cultivation The
report of tine 1912 crop shows Red
Fife wheat Welding 55 bushels to ths
acre from the soil under natural condi-
tion there. Romanoff. spring wheat.
planted in 1912, and harvested about
September l. shows a production OF so
bushels TO the acre.
These wonderful results can be di-
rectly traced to the fact that during
the whole of the growing season there
is no darkness. 1t is all daylight. From
May 10 the beginning of September.
one can read newspaper out of doors
at midnight.
The quality is another source of sur
prise to the uninitiated. Vegetables.
such as cabbage. .urnips, tomatoes,
radishes celery and lettuce. are vast
ly suoerior to those grown in the
states. ]
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

YOU are to worship; pleasing to note the
mail carrier steering his craft from house
to house; pleasing to see congregation
some brilliantly illumined palace wherein
a social function is in progress, our
automobiles and carriages attend the de-
parture of merry guests: pleasing to
rest reclining in a swaying gondola and
listen to a moonlight concert upon a
floating platform embellished with flow
ers and fairy-lille lanterns Though per-
haps not pleasing it is extremely odd to
view a solemn funeral eortege moving
majestically over the surface of tho
water; odd to view the fire department.
rushing, IL rushing it may be called, to
the stroke of well-timed oars; odd to
view the garbage collector with his string
to view water being drawn from wells
that spring from out the sea: odd to view
men and women eating snails, raw and
cooked with appetite and gusto; and odd
to view thousands of pigeons whose cote
is stately cathedral
The gondola is the horse, the draft ve-
hcle and the automobile of Venice 1t it
invariably painted black though James
Gordon Bennett once surprised the natives
by using one of white Gasoline engines
have recently been applied to such craft,
but they are not satisfactory, being too
unwiedly to manipulate in the small
canals where the angles are very acute
and the turnings extremely short. A
gondolier considers it beneath his dignity
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

are the spinsters that Shakespeare causes
one of his characters to regret that cupid
had spent all his CULVER in Venice. To
Venetian culture the world owes much
and fastidieus France ate with her ling
ers until the wife of a Doge taught her
the use of d fork.
Venetian life is best seen upon the
Piazza s Marco, which is thronged at al
hours of the day and night. It is a great
promenade in the afternoons and a large
orchestra discourses music in the even
iugs.
/ have often seen the late Don Carlos.
pretender To the Spanish throne, strolhns
lazily up and down the square. He lived
with his young wife in the city where his
palace upon the Grand Canal maintained
all the pomp and ceremony pertaining
to a royal court. In public. however, Don
Carlos was quite democratic and even
conversed with strangers, whom he per
mitted to caress the large hound that was
his constant companion. Florion's is the
cafe of Worldwide reputation upon the
Piazza. The resort is thronged To pie
thora until the wee small hours of morn
and its prices are in keeping with its
reputation.
The entrance from the square to the
Merceria. the principal shopping street.
is surmounted by an archway bearing a
celebrated clock with bronze figures that
strike the hours. The clock has but one
hand and the entire hand, instead of being
attached at one end to a pivot in the CEN
ter of the disc, moves around a circle at
the edge of the dial. | must confess that
| never saw the use of more than one
hand for clock or watch. The minute
hand is detrop. Buwer said that no gen
tleman had ever any occasion to use n
watch; that its employment was confined
to the laboring class, but while | cannot
agree with him in this I always deemed
the hour hand a sufficient monitor of the
flight of time to serve any purpose that of
railroad employees possibly excepted. The
Italians have divided their time into "a
hours so that one dimes about nineteen
O'Clock and retires at twenty-three, an
appropriate time for the 'sNadoo.'
Venice is too rich in history, and | take
it that my readers afe too well versed
therein for me to descant to any extent
thereon, but there are two characters
which constantly companion my thoughts
when | move among the purlieus of the
city. One of these is that unfortunate
condottiere, or soldier of fortune, Car
magnolia. Men of his pi ofession hired
their services as commadors of troops in
warfare to various nations. kingcoms and
prlnclpalties. Carmagnola was in the en-
ploy of Venice He had lost an important
battle Battles were frequently lost by
such leaders. who were seduced by the
gold of the enemy, and Carmagnola was
not above suspicion upon this occasion.
But the Nenetians We're diplomats and
allowed not n title of their suspicious TO
reach their generals ears Upon the con-
trary they complimented him upon his
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25
A City Crur,1bHng to the Poauer Of the Sea

Giorgio, a church upon the far side of
inclined footway and up this incline
Napoleon rode upon horseback. This
act, like the one of opening the lead
coffin of Frederick the Great at Pots
dam, was perpetrated as designed IN
suit, one which the Nenetians have
neither forgotten nor forgiven.
To the church of S. Giorgio the body
of st. stephen was brought from Con-
stantinople in 1909, a Doge assisting
in carrying the coffin upon his shoul-
ders to the high altar This event is
celebrated by a Doge annually visit
ing the church on Christmas eve and
ii was the only occasion on which any
Doge ever appeared in public at night.
II was an inspiring spectacle with the
huge building ablaze with candles. the
Giudecca aflame with the flare of
flambeauX. the superb Dalmatian guard
glittering in a most picturesque uni
form, boats illumined with floating Ian
terms, mitred bishops bearing flying
gonfalons, beautiful women arrayed in
sparkling jewels and bewilderng cos
tunes and appealing music following al
a benizon over the enchanting scene.
But all this is gone. AS Browning
said: Venice spent what Venice
earned" and we only see its glory re-
Elected in the inimitable canvases of
Paul Veronese. The city is slowly sink
ing. There are many leaning towers,
the churches are all awry and the
palaces stand at an oblique. The floor
of st. Marks Is as rough as the sur
face of a sea frozen in its agitation,
all caused by its downward trend. 1t
is claimed that the waves raised in the
canal by the constant plying of the
vaporettas, as the passenger steamboats,
are called, is responsible for this sink
ing of the city
All of the European centers show
decay accentuated by contrast with the
new and progressing sections Of the
city; not so with Venice. She has no
progress; the march of civilization is
Fastening the course of her attenua-
tom the calmness of despair has set
tied upon her and in silent composure
she awaits the final pronunciamento of
her impending fate.
But all this does not rob the city
of her charm: on the contrary, it but
enhances that charm and in many re-
spects Venice is to me one of the most
fascinating centers of Europe. Its pic
trresqueness is especially pronounced,
and this has made the place for many
years the favorite haunt of painters.
Ruskin says that this picturesqueness
is due to effect of the Gothic mingled
with those of the Renaissance. This
is about the only thing in which l
agree with Ruskin. I am aware that
he is not to be cast aside with a sneer.
lie unquestionably possessed an artis-
tie temperament to the highest degree.
he felt the influence of a picture
potently as he sensed the spell of an
environment lie knew what pleased
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25
TTIAW FARMING IN ALASKA

Imagine a great bowl of Ice 800
miles long and 30 miles wide. Sprinkle
ii with layer of dirt. says the Tech
nical World Magazine Light 1t with a
sun that beats down with tropic in
tensity 90 of the "a hours of the day.
Give 1t the climate of arid Arizona
with its 10 inches of rainfall every
year.
Now you have a fair picture of the
Tanana valley, located almost in the
geographical center of Alaska, whose
farms surpass I'm productivity and
wealth of yield the best Dakotas or the
cream of the Canadian northwest
prairies. to which thousands of our
middle west farmers annual migrate.
Barred from the softening Influence
OF the warm japan current by range
of high and preciptous mountains.
which includes such giants as Mt st.
Elias and Mt Mckinley latitude 90
500 feeD, the loftiest on the Ameri-
can continent. this valley is only made
cndurable for plant life by the fact
that the whole region. except the sur
face. is frozen.
The moisture arising from the Jap
anese current in the form of clouds
settles against these mountains and is
precipitated snow. forming the tre-
mendoIs glaciers In the southern por-
tioD of Alaska. The air Is then freed
of its moisture and comes dry into
the Tanana valley. the valley has no
more moisture. no more rainfall than
Arizona. The Tanana valley would be
an arid desert were II not for the fact
that 1t is frozen from surface to bed
rock. and every drop of water and
every snowflake which falls In that
country Is conserved. 1t sinks into the
ground and is frozen there. 1t is MAIN
tafned In cold storage
When the warm spring sun touches
the ground and the plowman turns un
the clods 1t begins thawing. Then the
Fairbanks farmers plant their gardens.
and as the moisture is needed 1t come =
from below. The thawing continues all
summer.
The Tanana people have a subirri-
cation system which nature operate 3
for them that beats any irrigation or
reclamation system in any of the west
tern states and which does not now and
never VIII cost cent to maintain.
The clearing of farm lands about
Fairbanks Is going on rapidly Last
year the area under cultivation was
nearly double all that which had been
cleared and cultivated in previous
years. The yield of those crops is mat
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

that parties are organized groups of
men with identical views on. matters
of state policy. The worst vice of
parliamentary government is that the
larger parties, which are thus mere
interest groups, should dominate en-
tirely over smaller parties without re-
gard to justice or general state inter
ests. To mitigate this evil proportional
representation is proposed This plan
is good in principle, but involves great
mechanical difficulties. one of which
is that proper representation of minori-
ties means increasing the size of par
liaments until they become mere mobs
incapable of transacting business.
Herr Zenker claims that the most
essential ills of Parliament cannot be
got rid of by representation of mi
norities. Two other things are needed.
Tho first the strengthening of the rep
resentative system by a system of pub
lie control over Parliament; and the
second Is a radical change in the func-
tions of Parliament itself Zenker
stands for the referendum on all great
law projects. But the referendum is
net enough. The elector must not only
control projected bills; he must also
control his representative This can
be done partly by shortening the pres
ent term. for which parliaments are
elected and partly by embodying in
constitutions the provision that a dep
uty's mandate is revocable. The citi
zens who send man to represent
them should have the right to dismiss
him If he ceases to represent them
worthily. The decision on this question
should be that of the citizens as a
whole, and not OF the party whose
votes have got the deputy into Parlia
nent. In order to insure this 1t would
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

" HE traveller from Florence to
Venice scales the Apennines and
in his journey passes through 40
tunnels. The view. however. is most
darkness to daylight serves but to en-
hance the scenery. En- transit one
learns much of the rural customs and
characteristics of the country. The
roads are traversed by teams of snow
white oxen. with horns that greatly
suspass in size those of the Texan cat
tic. and it is a common occurrence to
sec horse, a donkey and an OK hitched
side by side to the same vehicle. Most
OF these vehicles are laden with wine
in bottle, the flasks being covered with
a straw Jacket serving to proven break
age and to shut out the light from the
liquid.
Ample opportunity is also afforded
for studying the thrift and resourceful-
ness of the Italian peasant farmer.
He never has less than three crops
growing at the same time upon his
little acreage. All of the fields where
wheat and other cereals are grown are
planted in orchards with the trees trim
med high to keep the shade from the
crops. Wires are strung from tree to
tree and upon these wires are the
grape vines. Thus is raised simulta-
nsously the crop of the soil direct, the
fruit of the tree and the product of
the vines. The grapes are constantly
sprayed by men who go through the
vineyards with a sprayer upon their
backs resembling our portable fire ex-
tiuguishers and so thorough is the work
done that the wine is infected with
the asridness of the fluid 1t frequently
happens that Americans are made ill
from drinking Italian wines and it is
the poison of the spraying fluid that
is responsible for this illness. After
one becomes use to it no further eff
fects are felt
One should always obtain his first
view of Venice by moonlight. There
are two reason for this-the moonlight
nurtures the spirit of romance which
most of us possess, and the absence of
daylight hides many OF the defects and
disappointments that belong to the city
by the Adriatic. When 1 first visited
Venice the old tower of a thousand
Years, known as the campanile of ST.
Marks, had fallen just an hour before
The dust of It's demolition was still in
the air; women We're screaming as they
dragged their children through the
streets to the scene of the disaster and
strong men were in tears. The metal
finlals which surmounted the campa-
nile fell at the very threshold of the
cathedral and many attributed the
sparing of the venerable church to a
miraculous agency.
The Venetian tower next in import
alce to this campanile is that of S.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

less corrupt compromises about tariffs,
concessions and privileges.
This evil is aggravated by the present
form of the two-chamber system. In
most countries both chambers have ex-
actly the same competence and junction.
and the confusion between national and
private interests in the lower chamber Is
repeated in the upper chamber. Instead
CT the chambers complementing one an
other they either resist blindly one an
others decision, or waste one anotherA
time i'm conflicts. For this ailment Zenkcr
proposes a radical differentiation of furo-
tons. The two chambers should remai'.
but they should be elected on different
principles, and should have different ard
independent functions. The first cham
her should deal alone with high political
matters and national finance the second
chamber should regulate the economical |
difference of the various classes. The
first chamber would handle all organistory
and defense legislation. also penal legis-
lation, the budgets. education and the
other general matters of government; and
1t should also control foreign treaties
when these do not concern tariffs. The
second chamber should handle tariff
trust and economic legislation generally.
in fact everything that concerns the clash
of pocket interests '-'he first chamber
should be selected by individuals as are
the present lower chambers. The second
chamber should be elected by the organ
lied interests The local chambers OF
commerce, labor bourses, chambers Of
agriculture, medical, legal and other pro-
fesslonal organizations should send dele
gates to large national organizations, and
these national organizations should elect
a second chamber. The representative
machinery would thus consist OF leg
The Churchill county standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1908-1920, 1914-08-12

Lady clerks at the Racket store
The Churchill county standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1908-1920, 1914-08-12
THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Met Monday In Extra Session, Ap-
pointing Members OF Election
Boards And Awarding Con-
tract For Road Improvements

The county commissioners board
met Monday The award for the
construction of certain road inn
proyements in the vicinity of the q.
Budd Williams ranch was made in
accordance with an advertisement cal
ling for bids. T. F. Frazier securing
the contract for the sum of $4,000.
Other bids were: A. R. Wainseott.
1890; p. Beetsehen, s2s4.00; G.
W. Temple and J. A. Wood, S272.00;
Budd Williams S19S.o0; f. A. craw-
ford, $4,000: ]. L. Cochran,
$4,000.
A proposal was received from Fl.
p. Phillips, of Reno, offering to ex-
pert the county books for $500 per
day and expenses, sum that was
considered exhorbitant and was ac-
eordingly rejected. The county
clerk was instructed to further cor
respond with a view to securing a
more suitable arrangement for the
service desired.
Dean S. Steuyer was appointed a
clerk of New River No. One pre-
cinct vice c. r. Bingham, resigned.
An application was received from
the Nevada Valleys Power Co., for a
franchise for the right to construct
and maintain an electrical transmits
sion line between Lahontan and the
eastern boundary of the county,
which was ordered filed and will be
acted upon at the next regular meet
ing of the board, when the compile
tion of the advertisements advising
the public of the company's plans
will have been had.
Joe Beane was appointed a clerk
of the Lahontan primary election
board and f. II. Tillinghast, Repub
lican, and w. p Coleman, Democrat
we're appointed judges of the same
board.
The board adjourned to meet or
September Sth.
The following bills were allowed
L. C. Weaver. road wk. - 1e.pt