davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12

place for brilliant strategy and rapid
 maneuvering of troops under almost
 insuperable difficulties when they are compared with the Russian cam
 paigns.
 Not only in strategy has Grand
 Duke Nicholas surprised the world, but in other ways. It is somewhat strange that the Russians, declared {, to be barbarians and admitted by their allies to be the most backward nation in the entente, are the only soldiers against whom charges of unspeakable outrages have not been made.
 Another striking feature of Grand Duke Nicholas generalship has been his conservation of his men where possible despite the limitless resources back of him and his prodigality of his troops where it was necessary. He preferred starving Przemysl into sub mission instead of storming it as he could have done, and in his drive into l Hungary has manifested the same re- gard for his men.
 One pass, as was necessary, was taken by storm. This was in the north, and after penetrating the Car pathians he marched southward while keeping up steady pressure on all passes and forced the Austrians to retire from their vantage points or be cut off and annihilated. Yester- day morning it was announced that all passes in the Carpathians were in Muscovite hands and preparations were under way for the drive into Hungary.
 The Russians still have mighty fights to win before they can enter Budapest. The Austrians and Ger mans have massed every available man on the plains in preparation for the life and death struggle where the Russians must be victors to gain the fruits of their previous successes.
 The time for the great Russian of fensive is at hand The maximum effort of the nation that broke Napo- leon as reed will now be put forth. The conditions for which Nicholas waited are at hand and Germany for the first time will feel the full weight of the Muscovite millions.
 It is the beginning of the end and the break will come within thirty days, either in France, Poland or Galicia.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
The Carpathian Campaign

French and British experts profess great admiration for the conduct of the Russian campaign in the Car pathians after the fall of Przemysl, and accepting the Austrian official statements as the minimum of Rus sian successes the conduct of the drive on Hungary has again shown the master hand of Grand Duke Nicholas, with Joffre the military genius of the war.
 The conduct of the Russians since August has shown that the lessons of the Russo-Japanese war have sunk deep. They have shown resiliency in defeat such as is possessed by the army of no other country and despite checks have kept up the remorseless pressure on three fronts. The world admits the fighting qualities of Ger many, but it must be remembered that Russia, too, is facing three ene- mics and is fighting on three fronts.
 Since the beginning of the war the whole force of the Austro-H Hungarian empire has been shattered against the jlegions of Cossacks in vain attempts to pierce the lines which Grand Duke Nicholas drew ever closer. Austria ] has had no other foe to fight and 1 could devote her whole energies against the Russians in Galicia. Ser via, it is true, had to be reckoned with, but four army corps should have been able to keep the Servians behind the Danube. If Austria had intended to devote her whole energies to Rus sia, as she ought to have done, she should have attempted no offensive against Servia; on the contrary the Austrians advanced into King Peters territory and as consequence were disastrously defeated.
 To Russia the Galician campaign was scarcely secondary to the opera tions in East Prussia and Poland, where the German drive on Warsaw was repeatedly checked. In Trans caucasia the Turks had to be met and defeated, which was done. The world has not realized the accomplish ments of the Russians, because it has heard only of their defeats and not of victories, but when the history of the war comes to be written, the opera 7 tions in France will take secondary
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
A VANISHED BIRD
'sssssssssssss

to have been a favorte place of congre- gation for these strange hosts. There they found many of the natural pro- ductions on which they relied. But how they ever attained such incredible num- bers and what special circumstances fav- oreS their development, are standing mys- teries. The beech forests and the vast numbers of native berry bushes appear to have nouiished them.
 In Fenimore Cooper's story 'of The Pioneers will be found d thrilling de- scription of a flock of passenger pigeons which extended from mountain to noun tain in one solid blue mass, and the eve looked in vain over the southern hills to find it's termination The front of this living column was distinctly marked by line, but very slightly indented, SO reg ular and even was the flight" These col umns of birds were attacked not only with shotguns, but even with small can non, as Cooper tells in his story, his state- ments being based upon actual facts.
 By the middle of the nineteenth cen tury the flocks of passenger pigeons had become very rare. A series of cold win ters and springs from 1860 to 1870 is said Dy writer in the "Encyclopedia Amer- icana' to have hastened the dsapp ance of the birds, and now only few small flock remain at best, and indeed it has been questioned whether a single representative of the genuine old race is In existence. A card of the National As sociation of Audubon Societies says: This bird is now believed to be extinct Many other valuable species are threat ened with like fate. We are trying to preserve them"
 The passenger pigeon bore in many ways resemblance to the messenger pig cons, or homing pigeons, of Europe and was large bird, much more graceful in form. than the ordinary pigeon, and very powerful in flight The upper parts of the body were of a biuish color, with metallic reflections about the neck Under heath, the color changed to a brownish or reddish purple or violet.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12

may stand as type of a surprisingly large class
 The first mayoralty campaign in which women votes participated somehow failed to develop the refining and elevating h. fiuence which the sex was expected to exert
 It was at the downtown meeting of a club organized and presided over by woman that the nearest approach to real riot broke out. And women partisans took leading part in the yelling. cat calling and general disorder which pre- vented either men or women speakers rom making themselves heard from the stage.
 when one sees a woman of dignified presence and cultivated appearance greet ed with torrents of misses and insults from the frenzied lips of both men and other women, when one sees her finally driven from the platform with no chance of speaking q word, one is tempted to retire to sonic quiet spot for a moment and med itate on what it all means
 When watches a venerable lady. with snowy hair and gracious presence, trying to quell the tumult by waving a flag and almost dancing in the same rhythm, while 120J shrieking men and women order her to sit down and chase herself. one remem- bers his own grandmother and makes a feeble effort to blush.
 One is-almost tempted to pick that dis carded and discredited old relic once known IS masculine chivalry out of the scrap heap and see how many people would recognize it.
 The first riot was at a Sweitzer meet ing By way of being entirely impartial 1t may be said that the next day exactly the same thing happened in the same place at Thompson meeting
 At the big political headquarters other things of somewhat the same complexion were to be seen. Masculine politicians were in supreme charge But each had opened a subsidiary headquarters for womei voters
 Yes, said one of the cynical male chlets, we've got two headquarters for the ladies. We put them at opposite ends or the building because the two old girls we've got in charge of them would pull each others hair out if they ever met"
 Not the brayest man in Chicago would dare to criticize, no matter how mildly any of the manifold manifestations of fcminism. But perhaps a newspaper re- porter may venture to set down some of the things he particularly since he is planning to go out of town immedia tely.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
CTIICAGO'S ELECTION

Henry NJ. Hyde in the Chicago Tribune. NHt was woman approaching mid.
 ale age. with touches of silver ir her hair. She was well but not ex- peIsively dressed. Her face was gentle and there were soft lines in it which seemed to indicate thoughtful mind She was standing on the sidewalkS in front of the Thompson headquarters on Ean- dolph street close up to the building. In both hands sine clutched a big mega phone.
 She was trying hard to make herself heard above the wild storm of sound but the voice which came from the trun- pet was neither shrill nor overloud. Ii sounded like vastly exaggerated coo.
 Everybody vote for Thompson. We want Big Bill We want Big Bini"
 The whole sidewalk for a block was swarming with a shifting, changing mass of yelling people. old and young of both sexes. Four young men, their hands on each others shoulders. walking in lock step, came worming their way through the crowd Their leader yelled through a megaphone
 "One Two Threel' he counted Then, with an extra head of steam. Whats the matter with Sweitzer?"
 An automobile full 0 Thompson en- thusiasts stood at the edge of the curb. At the challenge they leaped on the seats and raised their megaphones.
 ''Sweitzer the Irish Kaiserr' yelled one. Hes a scab. that's all.'' beloved a sec ond.
 Across Randolph street for a block the opposite sidewalk down into the street was packed with another mob made up mostly of Sweitzer partisans. From both sides rose a conflicting tumult of unintel- ligibe yels
 Through it all the lady with the mega phone stood close to the building in front of the Thompson headquarters and bleat- ed impotently through her huge mouth- piece One had to be within two feet to distinguish the words.
 We want Big Bill We want Big Bill"
 Men forcing their way through the jam stopped and looked at her and smiled. It was rather like seeing one maiden aunt leaning up against the bar in a saloon.
 She would not be worth notice but for the fact that during the week of ira tional hysteria which preceded election day she was many times multiplied She
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12

Garrett P. Servss in the Pittsburg Sun. hNHE United States once possessed a
 distinctively American bird belong
 A ing to the great family of the pig cons, but different from all other species of that family, and so remarkable for its vas numbers and it's peculiar habits that it became renowned as one of the great est marvels of the new world It was called the passenger pigeon. Its singu- larities marked it off from its distant relatives in the old world as sharply as the American red man was distin- guished from the European.
 It was so conspicuous a feature of Am erican life that, like the buffalo of the plains. it passed into our literature, where it plays a part unlike that taken by any other bird in any quarter of the world. Other birds have been sung by poets for the beauty Of their songs, or their love of mans compa nionship, or the aspiring ideals which they seem to symbolize The passenger pigeon forced itself upon the attention of American historians and descriptive writers by the simple count lessness of its hosts. Where they passed they changed the aspect of the land scapes; they covered the sky and shield ed off the sunlight: they broke down forest trees when they alighted for the night.
 Usually observers of the flight of the passenger pigeons abandoned as hopeless all attempts to count or to estimate, their numbers but we have at least two enum- erat tions made by competent observers which serve to indicate the almost in credible numerical strength of the flying hosts. John James Audubon, the natural ist, computed tthe number of pigeons in a stream which he saw passing at not less than 1,1OO.000,000. He calculated that this host must consume S50O.00o bushels of grain per day! This was not an excep- tionaliy large flight of pigeons, for Au- dubon had often seen them in equally great numbers.
 1 Alexander Wilson, the ornithologist saw a flock of passenger pigeons whose aggregate length he calculated at 24 miles, and the numbers of individuals cno' taired In 1t at g. 2s0, 900. about twice tils total human population of the earth al that time Wilson's estimate of the
 daily food supply needed for this tremen |
 dous host was r7,424.0oo bushels of grain which 1t will be noticed is in good accort
 with Audubon's calculation of the amount | of provender reqdired by the pigeons. One cannot but wonder how the bird' succeeded in maintaining themselves 1T q wild country, but 1t is explained thai they began to eat grain only after thu | settlers farms furnished it for them and that their natural food was berries l soft -shelled nuts like beechnuts, acorn. | and wild fruits. Their ordinary migra l tions were simply movements in searci of food. and not seasonal changes of resi- dences like those of regular migrant birds | They gathered wherever their natural foot abounded at the time and, when it wal exhausted, moved on. Their invasion were as cratic and sudden as thos' of the Goths and Vandals. and as wei calculated to excite astonishment con cerning their place of origin.
 The reglon of the Great LAlkes seem
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
LUKE M'LUKE SAYS
From the Cincinnati Enuuirer.

AOhi thc SAHCiHuhti E<HQulref.
 Most men imagine that women dress to please the men. But they are wrong, Women dress to displease other women.
 Any old time a man Is generous to a fault 1t is usually one of his own faults.
 The average man Is so consistent that he will stand around and tell lies all night and then want to fight if anybody calls him a liar.
 | There would be more prosperity in this country if every man knew as much about his own business as he knows about the other fellows.
 Somehow or other man seldom gets any pleasure out of a thing that doesn' { separate him from some of his money
 Why is 1t that most of the fellows who were champion spoilers at school are now working for $100 month, and why is it that most of the fellows who had to look 1t up in the dictionary arc getting 31O,00( year?
 Some men imagine that they are optim. ists because they let their creditors worry about what they owe. It doesn't take long to tell . man jus, what you think of him. But 1t sometimei takes quite while to recover. The old-fashioned man who used to eel out for . lifelong voyage on the sea ol matrimony now has son who buys { return ticket.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
The Pullman Porter

Now comes our ebony friend, the Pullman porter, out into the lime light again. He is the subject of an inquiry conducted in Chicago by Chairman Frank P. Walsh of the fed eral commission on industrial rela- tions. MT. Walsh's commission is probing the wage schedule and other conditions incident to the porter ser vice on sleeping cars.
 The porter has been in the limelight before. There's no danger that he will fade, no matter how sharp the glare, and the strongest rays will hardly cause him to blink an eye. He's inn mune.
 In short, Pullman service seems to be nerve developer. All the way down from the man who makes the rates and gives unpronounceable names to the cars-yes, all the way down from chief executive to the black man who shines our shoes, nerve in ample measure is much in evidence.
 And speaking of shines What a misnomer!
 The shine Pullman porter puts on your shoes while you snore isn't a shine at all-it's a leaden- tinted, drah sort of daub.
 But, to get back to the main part of the text, the Chicago inquiry brings out the fact that the wages of Pullman porters for the first fifteen years of service is $27.50 month. after fifteen years-only fifteen years, mind you-if the porter has been very, very nice all along the route, he gets 5 per cent raise, which brings him up to $28.87.
 Just why that 87 cents is tackled on is not clear, but most likely it is the idea of Robert T. Lincoln, president of the Pullman company, that Rastus can buy himself barber-poe striped necktie for that amount, and that once in possession of such sartorial peacockage, he will settle into a state of beatific self-satisfaction and not clamor for anything more in the line of wages.
 It is easy enough to calculate that . mere $27.50 will hardly pay for the porter's feed on long run-Chicagc to Los Angeles and return, for in. stance Therefore, it is obvious that the black man is, perforce, dependent in large measure upon the gratuity oi passengers who ride in Pullman sleepers and who have already paid {
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
Fish stories In order

"The suggestion in Sundays Age-Her aid by Nimrod,' that fish stories be contributed-actual experiences-is a good one,' said a sportsman.
 This one is not old enough to em- balm; in fact it happened in 1913 fol sure:
 Pat O. (hes good fisherman. has fine pond of his own) caught 10- pounds and over bass in one of the
 Warrior lakes'-not far from Hulls The envious said he caught it on a
 trot line;' l doubted it, for the reason that if so large a bass was hooked il is 10 to l shot it would get loose unless some one promptly landed it. Last November I was shooting al Cypress, not far from the lakes. The rain was falling slowly, and the fire out in the open felt good. I was wait ing the night train for home Sid a ginger colored man. guide to hunters and fishermen, talking of the differen, Birmingham sportsmen he knew, said Does you know MT. Pat O.? I replied that I did, and remarked that he had caught very large bass out of one ol the lakes. Sid said: Yes, sir. I helpeo him to ketch it. remarked that he had caught it on trot line.' No. sir he didn't he replied. T tell you how twas done. The big bass kept CT gittine all de minnows off de trot line. I told him l could fix CT way to ketch 'em Well. I went to de store and got two | sheep bells and hung 'em on de bushes the lines were tied to. Den we rowet across the lake; 'twarnt long befo ons of dem bells begun to rattle; we rushed over in de boat and got dat big one.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
In the Bu.ines. World

Henry Clews in his Saturday review says in part:
 "The anticipated activity and strength of the stock market fully mn terialized. The general undertone m the stock exchange has been exceed ingly strong, some prices reaching record levels. while few receded un- der the temptation to take handsome profits. The withdrawal of minimum prices left New York a free market. the only important free market in the world. and this of itself had corsid- : erable to do with stimulating activ- ity. In some of the industrials, par ticularly those In receipt of war con tracts there have been violent advances which exposed the whole market to sudden reactions
 "On the other hand. few of the industrials are feeling the effects of prolonged trade stagnation. which have already caused the reduction or pass- ing of dividends. These unfavorable e conditions have. however, exerted their full effect, and the market Is now chiefly occupied in discounting trade improvement and the approach of peace. To the lay mind the war strus- gle seems to drag disappointingly on at it's western end. where the dead : lock is evidently 50 obstinate that neither party appears prepared to break : it; whether. because of inability ol
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
A BIRTHDAY

By Christian Rosetti My heart is like singing bird,
 Whose nest is in a watered shoot; My heart is like an apple tree
 Whose boughs are bent with thickest
 fruit. My heart is like a rainbow shell That paddles in a halcyon sea, My heart Is gladder than all these. Because my love Is come to me. Raise me a dais of silk and down,
 Hang 1t with rare and purple dyes; Carve it in doves, and pomegranatess And peacocks with hundred eyes; Work 1t in gold and silver grapes. In leaves and silver deur-de-lys; Because the birthday of my life
 h come. my love. h co''~ *- ----
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Better nnsIner. Eyerruhere

was in New York and Philadelphia last week, and l found all my business aeqhaintanees in those cities very optimis. uc' said John H. Huteheson of Chi. cago.
 In my home city there has been won derfui improvement in the past few days Business In Chicago was very dull all the winter. It began to show marked improvement in March, and now it is swinging around to normal. Busness throughout the west is extremely pros porous. and here in the south, with which am in touch, the advance in the cotton market has greatly enhanced business conditions There is a splendid outlook Tor trade the balance of the year..
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
Great Interest in Music Festival

'"The music festival which is to be given Monday, April 9 at the Jefferson under the auspices of the Birmingham Choral association, has aroused great interest and there will be packed houses both afternoon and night" said business man.
 ''Fhe cordial support which the en- terprise is receiving from the schools as well as from music lovers gener- ally is most encouraging to those who have a three or four days festival in view for next year. Last year it was tival to two performances. The busi- ress-like women who managed the af- fair were determined to make it pay out. There was a surplus of several hundred dollars. There will be a sur plus again this time. No matter how small the surplus may be it is better than a deficit. Nearly all the two or three-day festivals of former years in- cured deficits; not large deficits. l Ut when a festival can come out ahead there is decided enthusiasm all along the line.
 We will not be able to have a fes- tival on a vast scale until we have an auditorium but if business conditions less will be--a three days festival in 1 one of the theatres can be made to pay ! expenses" A
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
Birmingham's Crisis

''Nhat is the matter with Birndng. ham2 Do her citizens hesitate to ar.
 range for the payment of a large float ing indebtedness?" Such questions a. tkese are addressed point blank to the
 traveller who halls from this city in whatever part of the state he may be, T remarked W. T. Crawford of Birnling- hs m.
 My business takes me to many sec tions of the state, and I have Yhst re- turned from a trip. While away I stopped at many points in Jefferson and adjacent counties, and could hardly fail to note that considerable interest had been ex- cited by discussions concerning Birming- hams bond issue eectioH. I came in touch with many prominent and repre- sentative citizens and on every hand vas greeted by questions which at times were gather embarrassing.
 Many of these men did not hesitate to express the opinion that should the bond issue fail to carry, Alabama's me- tropois would suffer little short of a public disaster. Indeed, it seemed to me that some of my out-of-town friends had reached fuller realization of the grav- ity of the question which comes up for decision at Mondays election than have few of the taxpayers of Birmingham. l will certainly vote for the bond issue, and l believe that almost every other voter of the city who has given the
 matter serious consideration will use his influence in favor of this proposition"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
NOT A PICKPoCkn'r

rum t1e St. HuI TDISpHtCH. n
 Prisoner in one of the Irish police courts the other day was asked his occupation. He mentioned several call ings that he followed from time to time.
 And among other things inqured the prosecutor. "do you pick pockets?'
 ''No." he retorted. T don't pick them; I just take them as they come
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-12
One sees more devils than vast hei can hold, that Is the mndman. --Midsummer Nights Dream.

BEGINNING THE DAY-I arise In Thy strength. 0 Lord, l eat of Thy bounty, l go forth by Thy leave, to 1nbOr in Thy fields amid Thy har- vests. This sir is Thine. and this pleasing frame of the earth. I feel Thy touch in my heart inclining me to call Thy name. Thou encOmpass- est me altogether. Amen.-H. M. E.