davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Valdez daily prospector., 1914-10-22
Tho Judge Who Didn't Joke.


 The funny sayings of a judge who never joked are found in "Arabini- ana." . selection of the dicta of Ser. geant William Arabin, who sat as a judge at the Old Bailey in London from 1880 to 1889. For instance, his remark to counsel:
 If you can show precisely at what moment the o6ense was committed and prove that the prisoner vas not there when he did 1t he could not pos sibly have done it." And he sagely added as an afterthought We cannot divest ourselves of common sense in court of justice"
 Another axiom he delivered himself of has been fathered on many other occupants of the bench:
 If ever there was a case of clearer evidence than this case, this case is that case"
 Subscribe TOT the Prespector.
Valdez daily prospector., 1914-10-22
POWER OF VIRTUE.

The moral cement of society is virtue. It unites and preserves, while vice separates and destroys. The good may we'll be termed the salt of the earth, for where there is no integrity there can be no con6- dence, and where there is no con- hdence there can be no uaanimity.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
ANNIsToN WANTS c. OF GA.

From the Anniston Evening Star
 Investigation develops a sentiment which may crystalline into a concerted movement among local business inter- ests generally to induce the Central of Georgia railroad to construct a link into Anniston. The advantages that would accrue to Anniston by such a connection have been informally dis cussed for sometime but it has lacked the essential initiative to create the interest and enthusiasm to accomplish any purpose. However, the proposition is gaining an impetus which promises to assume united efforts to put the matter up to the Central of Georgia of- ficials.
 It is pointed out that by the con- struction of a line from Sylacauga, which for economical construction is the nearest place to Anniston the Central now touches. this city would be given direct line from the At lantic seaboard to Chicago and Omaha. The enormous tonnage which origin ates in Anniston now controlled by the Louisville and Nashville and Southern railroads is an argument which would have a deciding effect with the Central management.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
Ragtime out of Fashion

"Ragtime music which had quite g vogue a few years ago, has been pass ing gradually and is now altogether out of fashion, said an amateur, who spends much time in New York.
 Last summer l attended several free band concerts in New York parks-peo- ple's concerts-and heard only one rag time piece. The programmes were made up for the most part of light music but 1t was the reverse of trashy Beautiful dances, beautiful marches, standard over lures, opera selections and symphonic poems please the masses and at the same time such music helps to humanize and educate them.
 -I hope Kryl in his chautauqua con- eerts next week will cut out all trivial stuff when he responds to encores. He has all excellent band and the people last year greatly enjoyed all his regular pro- gramme numbers, but there was much criticism of his extras "
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
BirmIngham's Way

T think the newspapers of Birmingham
 give more space to, and do more boosting
 for, the Chamber of Commerce than those in any other town in the south give to theirs said R. G. Booker of Atlanta yes terday. q think it is mighty fine. and I Iihave. no doubt it is in a big way re- sponsible for the active Chamber of Com meIee and other civic organizations which have made Birmingham known in all parts oe the country
 Incidentally. as much as l hate to say it, l think the baseball plant out at Rick wood is the best in the entire country outside of the big leagues, and I have seen practically all of them. Another thing that impressed me today was the tumultuous noise and shouting at the
 ball game. Such roofing is good to hear.
 like to see enthusiasm no matter what it is about or what it is for. I've attended ball games in every town in the league,
 but when it comes to roofing I'll have to take off my hat to Birmingham"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22

by the regularly organized committees
 on hygiene in cities is among the hu- man flotsam and jetsam of life, many of their patients being found in police stations, where they have been gath cred from the streets.
 The second important phase of men tai hygiene, the after-care treatment, also has a social and economic side. Hundreds of patients released from hospitals, who would otherwise be re- turned there in a short while, are taken in hand by the mental hygien- ists. Places are found for them where allowances are made for their disabil- ity and they can earn their own living. being engaged at the same time in work that will conduce to their mental and physical health. Men who have been inmates of hospitals for years and have been considered hopeless cases have been taken out of confine ment given suitable employment and restored to at least a semblance of their former selves. Thus the taxpav CT has been saved the cost of main taining patient for life in some in- stitution.
 According to the handbook of the mental hygiene movement, issued sev- eral years ago, there were 100000 in- sane people in the United States at that time, of whom all but about 2O.- ooo were inmates, of hospitals and sanitariums. The cost of raintaining those in institutions was s175 year per capita.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
OPERA AT SEA
1m the Pittsburg Sun,

From the Pittsburg Sun.
 Ships at sea off the port of New York yesterday heard distinctly the tones of Caruso, singing at his best in operatic airs, some of the ships being out as much as D miles. The explanation came finally that the wireless on the roof of a New York store was transmitting the arias to the wireless station on the roof of store in Philadelphia. What a sensation this intelligence would have caused a quarter century ago! Half century ago the telephone was no more than dreamed of, and the wireless had been only faintly conceived in the mind of an Indian scien- tist. Yet here we are anticipating an early development of means whereby grand opera may be transmitted from New York to passengers on palatial steamers half way across the ocean.
 Men marveled when a message was transmitted by wire from Washington to Baltimore, a distance of 40 miles, about 70 years ago. There is now no marvel that the human voice can be sent 100 miles into space with no medium of transmission save the air What strides we have made in conquering nature, and yet how little we know of the boundless mysteriesi
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
GRoG FIRST USED IN 174o


 From the Kansas City Star
 Secretary Daniels order prohibiting al- coholic liquors on board ships of the navy and at navy yards has given rise to the question regarding the origin of the word "grog."
 Vice Admiral Vernon of the British squadron operating in the West Indies in 1740 the man for whom Washington s home was named, issued an order from which the word ''grog' originated. His purpose was to regulate the naval ration in order to improve the personnel, to remedy existing conditions, and promote temperance
 Because of the demoralization of the nen brought through overndulgence in rum the order providing for the use of diluted liquor was given. According to this order quart of water had to be mixed with each pint of the West Indian beverage, and the usual ration was di- vlded. half to be given before Il o'clock in the forenoon, and the other half to be given late in the afternoon.
 The men, in their resentment at the Interference on the part of their superior, ironically dubbed the diluted drink ''grog'' in his tonor. Admiral Vernon had been nicknamed "Old Grog," because it was his custom to wear a heavy storm coat of "Srosgrain" or. as the common English form was, "grogram."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
The Presbyterian Assemblies

Much interest will be felt in the pro- ceedings of the two large general as-
 semblies of the Presbyterian church-the
 northern in session in Chicago and the southern in session in Kansas City" said a layman. ~
 "The official name of the northern body is the General Assembly of the Presby- terian Church in the United States of America, and the official style of the southern ends with United States, the word America. being omitted; but it has been hard for the public to remember which is which; therefore. the popular des-
 isnations northern and southern are com-
 monly used.
 All the churches in this country hold
 ing the presbyterial system will be united
 some day, no doubt. but do not expect to i've to see it. For many years a re
 uufte' movement has been considered but Ithere is a conservative element in both branches that opposes a merger The
 northern and the southern assemblies
 have close fraternal relations-much closer
 now than in the years closely following
 the civil war-and many of us think that the situation had better remain unchanged for awhile yet'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
LITTLE-OH-DEAR

By Eugene Field. See what a wonderful garden is here, Planted and trimmed for my Little-Oh-
 Dear! Posies so gaudy and grass of such brown Search ye the country and hunt ye the
 town And never yer meet with garden so As this % one I've made for my Little-oh-
 Dear! Marigolds white and buttercups blue, Lilies all dabbed with oney and dew, The cactus that trails over trellis and
 wall. Roses and pansies and violets-all Make proper obeisance and reverent cheer When into her garden steps Little-Oh- And up at the top of that lavender tree A silver bird singeth as only can she: For. ever and only, she singeth the song T love you-I love your the happy day
 long; Then the echo-the echo, that smiteth mo 1T love you, love you" by Little-oh-
 Dear! The garden may wither, the silver bird
 fly But what careth my little precious, or I? From her pathway of flowers that in
 springtime upstart She walketh the rendered way in my
 heart. And, oh, it is always the summer time
 here With thst song of 1T love you.' by Listl.-
 'ss +'.. q.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
Signs in the Business World

Every day witnesses signs of re- turning prosperity. It may be that in New York's financial district a few pessimists are still blind to the evi- dences of business improvement, but men of large vision now see that the country is about to enter upon a new era of industrial activity and great material progress.
 The Iron Trade Review, which is a very conservative authority, says in it's issue this week: More cheerful sentiment continues to assert itself in the iron market. This is due to the external conditions which promise to affect all business >favorably"
 The Iron Age, cosnized as high authority, in reportin4 the fact that three companies of eastern Pennsyl- vania had made large sales of basic pig metal says: "The general express sion in the steel trade is that order books have not yet realized upon the feeling that change for the better is at hand. Yet improved sentiment is everywhere admitted; car orders of the week amount to 400 besides 500 cars the St. Paul will build for itself The Seaboard Air Line is inquiring for 445 cars"
 While these are not boom para graphs, they are of significance, be- cause they indicate the turning of the tide. There is good reason to believe that industrial revival on large scale will be in evidence in June when the government crop reports will prac- tically assure new high record har- vests.
 Nearly all the business prophets whose judgment has a direct effect on the commercial and industrial sit uation are predicting period of long continued prosperity, and what these men say has much to do with bring ing about better conditions. The busi- ness world may not be governed by sentiment, but sentiment plays a de- cided part in it. Prosperity talk is contagious and it generally has practical results. New investment eapqlta1 has been holding back since 1907, but just as soon as confidence is fully restored it will be available for new development by the multi millions.
 The Birmingham district has pros- pered right along through the period of general stagnation which has been felt in the eastern industrial districts, but just as soon as prosperity is gen. eral once more, greater expansion will be witnessed hereabouts than ever be- fore. With the coming summer, busi- ness in Birmingham will reach new high levels, and the year 1914 will be the best in the districts history.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
Mental Hygiene

Societies of mental hygiene are of comparatively recent origin, but the idea is spreading rapidly and there are now IA organizations of this kind in existence, with more being formed. One is located in South Africa, but most of the societies are in this coun- try, the first having been organized in Massachusetts few years ago.
 The brain specialists who are re- sponsible for the mental hygiene movement represent the most ad- vanced ideas of dealing with disorders of the mind and that they are doing a great work, along scientific and hu- manitarian lines, cannot be doubted. The old way of treating insane people like wild beasts and allowing less dan gerous cases to drag out their misera- ble lives with little or no effort to bet ter their economic as well as their mental condition, is no longer permis- sible. Just as the treatment of mental diseases has improved vastly in recent times, so have the conditions sur rounding the victims of such diseases been made considerably brighter and less reminiscent of the old madhouse, whose horrors were capable of upset ting the reason of perfectly sane person.
 While it has number of subdivis- ions, the mental hygiene movement is concerned chiefly with preventing mental breakdown and the after-care of patients released from hospitals. Some wonderful results have been ob- tained by those societies in various parts of the country, unfortunates who were tottering on the brink of in sanity being drawn back to normal condition of mind and given a new lease on life by mental therapeutics. " Victims of nervous disorders who are alarmed by their condition and are drifting rapidly toward a complete mental collapse are taken in hand by the mental hygiene experts. They arc given new ideas to think about and whenever possible are given some form of employment that will prove beneficial. Frequently a change oi scene and novel surroundings divert patients to such an extent that the, are soon restored to health.
 Naturally, most of the work done
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
Whither Are We Drifting?

Coxey's army reached the District of Columbia with just six members, and if it's leader is devoid of any sense of humor surely the reading public must entertain a smile as it compares the finale of the march with the grandiose heraldings that companioned it's start.
 Though in reverse order the bull letins which announced the progress of the army must suggest those that re- corded the advance of Napoleon after his escape from his island home which ran in this manner: "The orge has es- caped from Elba; the monster has landed upon the soil of France; Bona parte reaches Lyons; his majesty the Emperor entered Paris this morning amid welcomings of the citizens"
 When the march of Coxey's army was contemplated political economists looked grave and asked whither are we drifting? The socialists sounded the fanfare of approaching cataclysm and wiseacres solemnly acclaimed the doom of domestic peace and the ap. proach of oscial chaos.
 What has come over the spirit oi the country's dreams in so brief g period? Why have the screams of the eagle of liberty fallen upon deac ears? Why have the ranks of the ad vancing hordes not swelled to the pro portion of the floods of an OCT. whelming deluge? Can it be that the employed are too busy conserving their own welfare to assist their starv- ing, down-trodden brothers in theil protests against the tyranny of plu. tocrats? What has decimated the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
virsinia's Prohibition Campaign

"Anti-Saloon leaguers in Virginia are talking as if they expected to win in the statewide prohibition election in September, but I have an idea that the local optionists will have a decis- i've majority" said Henry B. Cairns of Washington, D. C.
 T am a near-total abstainer. I sell dom enter saloon, but the more I see of attempts at statutory prohibit tion the more thoroughly convinced I am that the democratic doctrine of local option is not only right in prin- ciple but right as a practical temper ance proposition. l have spent much time in North Carolina--a prohibition state-and have noticed that good deal of blind tiger traffic is carried on in the cities. The country towns keep pretty dry, but they would be dry just the same under local option law.
 The conservative people of Virginia will be found on the side of local op- tion as 1t already exists rather than try an experiment that has failed in other states. At least that Is my guess. spent last week in the Old Dominion, dividing my time between three cities, and every business man I happened to meet was against statewide prohibi- tion."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
ROOsevelt's Return

T voted for Mir. Taft in 1912 in order on my party loyalty since 1880, when I became of age; but like thousands ol others, l will be glad to vote for Col onel Roosevelt in 1916, regardless ol whether the party he leads is called progressive or republican" said John F. Felthaus of Milwaukee.
 While I have been a regular voter since I was old enough to cast bal lot, l have taken no ative part ir politics; have not been particuarly enthusiastic even when a campaign was on. But l am so much impressed with Colonel Roosevelts vigorous leadership that I would be willing to work real hard for him the next time"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
LONDON L1TTIExrss

rum tnt NeW 1Ofk Sun.
 The bgness of London is a British
 boast, but it is the bigness of Brook lyn-with apologies to our growing sister borough, which every day is more and more putting itself upon the map That Is to say, London is a vast and nearly formless mass. without that concentra- ton of population and rapidity of it's cir culation which Manhattan is doing it's best to rid itself of. An example of this was afforded the other day when Char ing Cross set itself up as the busiest ter minal on earth. Since then the Times has printed the claims of nearly A dozen American terminals to greater traffic. and several of them were in Manhattan. Now comes the General Omnibus company of London with something like the same claim to dwarf other carriers of great numbers of people. It describes it's busi- ness as of staggering proportions" The exact fgures are 5,500.0O0 fares in four days, and 576,000OO0 last year The buses ran 105,000,0O0 miles in the year and car ried the poplation of the worlds biggest city nearly 100 times over, or half the population of the world.
 Those are big figures, but there are others, and they are all the more remark able because they are afforded by small CT city-as yet. According to the last re- port of the public service commission. the passengers of New York city are reck- oned by the billion-soon by the billions rather than by the hundred million. In 1913 the passengers on the various street car lines of New York city totaled l, ,769,- ss9,2S4. There are no similar figures for London available, but an idea of traffic is afforded by a comparison of the traffic over London bridge with that over any of New Yorks four bridges. The Lon don Omnibus company's boast is no more than an average days business for our subways alone, in their incomplete condi- tion, and that leaves out of the count the elevated and the surface lines. The official calculations for the subway sys- tenn now under construction, embodying merely the facts of experience, allowing nothing for that other fact that all rec ords have been on a rising scale hitherto, are that the population of New York in a single generation more, in 1860, to be ex- act, will be 21,0 900, and that the passen- gers will be 21, 0,000, 0oo The figures are
 offlc1al, and may or may not be eX- act. They are staggering even to New York, which is accustomed to ciphering of that sort If London retains it's cour- age after it's Charing Cross experience it may try again. and then little old New York will try to see what it has in stock of the same sort
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22

The opening of the Hotel Motion yes- terday will be remembered as an i'm portant event in the history of Bir- mingham. The hotel is not only abso- lutely fireproof, but 1t is handsome in appearance. The Mol\on represents an investment of $5OO,OOO, and Col. T. IL. Motion. the owner, is receiving un- stinted praise for his public spirit in providing Birmingham with such an elegant hostelry. The History Tutwiler, which will be opened on June 15, is one of the largest hotels in this country, and no hotel anywhere is better built or appointed. The exterior is imposing. and the interior presents marvels in the way of artistic treatment. The Tutwiler is freproof of course and represents an investment of nearly $2,0O0, ,O0O Bir- mingham is now being well advertised as a great hotel city.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
Belligerency and Femininity

Not long since Femina, Parsian journal, submitted to the vote of wom- en the question, "If you were not a woman, what man would you prefer to have been?" and reply was made by nearly ten thousand women.
 Quite a sociological question is raised in the character of the replies received, for of the ten thousand votes nearly all gave the first preference to Napoleon. Next in order followed Pasteur, Victor Hugo, Edison, Poin- care, Rostand, Bleriot, Wagner, 8eethovan and De Musset. This result seems to be solar pleXus blow to the argument that the eman- cipation of women would bring about cessation of war because the mothers of men would refuse to become part ners in the wastage of -hl,pnsaff lives.
 It may be argued that the women who expressed a preference for the worlds greatest sacrificer of human lives merely reflected the slavery tc the ideals of masculinism with which they are still bound, but at all events the ballot demonstrated the lack of any inherent difference in the manner in which the sexes regard the world.
  / Advocates of female enfranchise- ment and their sentimental allies have persistently preached, written and sung about the supposed peculiar sen sibility of the feminine soul to poetry and music, yet when the woman is tested it is found that out of ten thou sand expressions of favoritism an al most inclusive majority select mar of bloodshed and carnage with two musicians and but one poet appearing in the roster. It would seem that mar and woman worship at the same shrine; that both are blinded by the halo of military prestige and glory anc the deduction irresistibly is that in stead of woman purifying politics tht ballot and it's associations would work upon her the same deleterious and de passing influences that it has exertec upon man.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-22
NONE TOO PROUD

From the St Louis Globe Democrat.
 Secretary of War Garrison, apropos of the revival in navy and army of vice at luncheon:
 This is largely matter of diplo- matic etiquette, a matter of elegance.
 Much goes by elegance nowadays, you know. l said recently to multi millionaire who had risen from a plumbers apprentice to I don't know how many bank presidencies and inter- locking directorates:
 "Your woman folks must be pround of you. since you are self-made.
 '"sYes,' he answered, grimly. Yes. they're about as proud of me as they'd be of a homemade dress"