davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
The Two Conventions

The time and the place for each of the two great political conventions having been fixed the thought of party leaders and all who take live ly interest in politics will be turned more than ever to candidates and platforms for the campaign of 1916.
 Although the republican conven- tion meets week ahead of the dem- ocratic, it is quite possible that the latter will complete it's work and ad- journ before the republicans get well started. As the democrats will have comparatively little to do, the re- nomination of President Wilson, the nomination of candidate for Vice President and the adoption of plat form being about all, the St. Louis convention should be able to adjourn at the end of the fourth day. But the republican convention, to meet in Chicago, will have before it many names from which to choose stan- dard bearer, and the balloting may not be far under way before the sec ond week.
 The democratic convention will be an epochal event, inasmuch as the true progressive spirit will be strong ly in evidence-the spirit which har- monizes large business interests with antitrust laws-epochal, too, because notwithstanding the fact that the records of the last fifty years do moi offer much encouragement to Presi- dents who stand for reelection, the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
THE POEM WARE SOLD
From the Kansas City Star.


 A. E. Cory, United States commits sioner in Fort Scott and an old time friend of the late Eugene F. Ware. pen sion commissioner under Cleveland. tells this story about 'Tronquill:" "I never in my life sold a poem, into the Fort Scott papers and if they catch on, all right. If they don't then I let them go-they die and never ap- pear again in print
 How about that sonnet of yours in the Cosmopolitan? You don't mean to say they didn't pay you for that? Gene laughed. I'll tell you about that he said. It is really the only poem I ever got cent for-except. of course. that Washerwoman song, and you know all about that.
 "'Charlie Gleed was always talking to me about the beauty of a sonnet and I never could see anything in it. But one day as I was coming down from Topeka an idea struck me which thought might be small enough for a sonnet and so I wrote it down on the back of an envelope. Later mailed it | to Gleed as a sample of what could be done in a small way.
 ".He mailed 1t to the Cosmopolitan and in time they sent me a check for l $5. There it is hung up onthe wall and he pointed to frame on the side of his office where hung gracefully
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16

democrats feel doubly sure that 1916 will witness a splendid victory for their party.
 The democratic convention which renominated Grover Cleveland in 1888 was held in St. Louis. The President had no opposition, but it was felt that democratic defeat that year was fore ordained. Therefore the convention was without the usual snap. It was a remarkably quiet convention. But no matter what happens at St. Louis next June there will be no lack of confidence or enthusiasm.
 The republicans, after landslide of defection in 1912, have grown vigorous again. The leaders are lusty in view of the return to the fold of those who strayed. There will be more republican candidates for the nomlna- tion than usual. Besides such "regu- lars" as Whitman, Herrick, Burton Borah, Weeks, Estabrook and Root, whose names are likely to come before the convention, the colonel will have to be reckoned with, and his devoted followers see him now in the minds eye walking away with the party's standard. It will be the hope of the former progressives that when deadlock occurs they will be able to stampede the convention for Roose- welt. Stranger things have happened.
 The June conventions will be fol- lowed by a campaign that promises to be, if not as heated as that of 1912, intense enough to hold the attention of theNmasses and draw out a full vote.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
PHILIP BOILEAU-ARTIsT

From the Southern Woman's Magazine.
 As for the artists actual life, it has been as full of romance as any make believe tale could be. It is true that he pronounces his name like swallow with B. and not as has been suggest ed, like some continental battlefield, but by all rights it should be given with all the liquid and soft-spoken grace of the most patrician of French accents. The artists father was a nopIeman of France. no less indeed thon Monsieur le Baron Gouldree de Voileau. who had been con sul general from the French government in Canada and who was secretary to the French minister in Washington when he met and married one of the daughters of Thomas H. Benton of Missouri. This was the artists mother and it is through her that he claims kinship, and very proudly, too, he declares. with the Prestons of Virginia, and, through them, to share in our own goodly inheritance of southern ideals and traditions.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
From the Kansas City Star.


 IN all the history of the persecution
 of Christmas from the time Saul went = forth to do violence against them, even to this day, there has been no in cident filled with greater heroic sacri- flee. no more romantic instance of sub- lime trust, no more thrilling story ot rescue than that which comes from Antioch, in Asiatic Turkey. on the shores of the Mediterranean. Saved by the Sign of the Cross might well be the title of the story which the war cable. grams told.
 Old Antioch! A familiar name to Bible students, for it was to that place Barna- bas and Paul were sent to preach the new gospel of hope; and we are told, in Acts vi, 26. that "rhe disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.'',
 In Antioch and the villages nearby lived 4OOo Armenian Christians and their pastor, the Rev. Dikan Andreasian. The certain day to be deported into the des- erts to the eastward, where death from starvation and thirst awaited them. The Christians voted to resist. and one night while 1t rained they went to the top oi Mount Moses, an eminence that rises sheer upward from the sea. They took with them their flocks and such supplies as they could gather and there, for $ days. the 4OoO Christians. their only weapons 12o modern rifles and twice as many flntrocks and horse pistols, with
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
Clearing Mine Fields

If only a small proportion of the new war inventions prove practical, the next great war is going to be vastly more scientific than the pres ent struggle in Europe, although 1t has brought out engines of destruc- ton so appalling that it would hard ly seem possible to increase their de- structiveness.
 It is said that German and Japanese naval engineers have perfected de- vice which will do away with the dan gerous, though highly necessary, practice of using small vessels as mine sweepers. The English trawler has proved invaluable in this class ot work, but it is full of peril, as the small, practically defenseless craft are exposed to the enemy's fire.
 According to the new method submarine equipped with an instru- ment for denoting the exact location of a mine will creep close beneath mine field and attach to the mines by magnets small instrument, many o1 which are strung along cable. Wher all the mines have been secured the submarine retires and they are ex. ploded from a distance. The mines are located by an electrical device which is not affeced by the metal 1T the submarine, but unfailingly indi cates the mine itself. The mouth o1 a harbor can thus be swept cleal with comparatively no risk whatever The enemy need be none the wiser until the explosions occur.
 But the more scientists cudgel thei brains to make war scientific, th' less romantic it becomes. Mine sweep ing is by far the most picturesque ant most dangerous phase of moderr naval WdfIdre, cdlllHS TOT lnOSS qudl ities of courage and self-sacrific' which made the boarding of an enemy vessel thrilling, hand-to-hand strug gle in the early days. Now it seems that the trawler is to be replaced by the submarine which will perform th same task more effectively and witt fer less risk.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
rIRsT TMo YEARS, ExPosITIoN

From the Pittsburg Dispatch.
 The worlds exposition at San Diego, Cal, which was opened this year at about the same time as the exposition at San Francisco, having been some what overshadowed by the latter, will continue for another year and will have new opening January l. A correspon- dent writing to the Dispatch from San Diego tells how the project for the show at the latter place had been decided upon previous to that at San Francisco, and had raised $1,0O0,00O when the Frisco promoters made a proposition to join forces That was found to be impossible and San Diego although at the time hav- ing a population of only 40,000, raised an- other $1,00O,000 went on independently and with great success, millions of vis- itors taking in both shows and making of ahe one at San Diego a great suc- cess. With grand and substantial build- ngs and mstchless grounds and other surroundings and with an appealing cli- mate with semi-tropical vegetation at all seasons, the correspondent says: This is the only place where a two years exposition is possible, thing not dreamed of heretofore. Since the begin ming of this effort the population of the city has more than doubled, now being from s5.ooo to s00O0. and still growing. D
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
Road Campaign Should Be Active

A representative attendance is ex- pected at the Jackson highway con- ference in Birmingham today and the campaign that will be inaugurated for the completion of the links of the proposed route through Alabama should be prosecuted with great energy.
 While many stretches of road are in prime condition, considerable mileage is yet unimproved. The path finders who are to judge of the rela- tive condition of the routes offered by Mississippi and Alabama will make their second and final tour of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
A ROMANCE FROM ANTIOCH

stood siege by 5000 regular TurkislI troops, aided by mob of 15,0OO MoslemI who were thrsting for the blood of thu Christians.
 The 63-day siege was filled with deed| of heroism. Once the Turks brought uJ field gun and a young Armenian, mak| irtg screen of branches, crept close i'd the gun and killed four of the gunners|
 The encircled Christians prayed dailJ for rescue and kept watch for a passI ing ship, and there flew constantly fror| the very pinnacle of the mount a greay white flag with a red cross in the centeI5 On the fifty-third day, which was Sun] day, when the food of the beleaguered Christians was almost gone, FrencE cruiser, far out at sea, saw that huge red cross glinting in the sunlight and the ship came close to see what it meant Then the pastor selected two young mer, who were strong swimmers and they de- seended the sea side of the rock and swam out with message. The French ship summoned four British ships by wireless, the Christians were taken off and now are safe in Port Said, Egypt, ir; care of British and American relief com1 mittees. and the good pastor of this Christian colony sends to America this message:
 We do not forget that our Savior was brought in his infancy to Egypt for safety and shelter. And the brothers of Joseph could not have been more mind- full than we are for the corn provided"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
NEW YoRK's BUSIEST CORNER

From the New York World N The census of street traffic taken by the police shows that Broadway at Full
 ton street has lost it's old eminence as
 the city's busiest corner. sThat distinc- ton now belongs to Park Row at Frank fort street, thef site of the Pulitzer build- ing, where 296,2OO pedestrians pass daily between S:3O a. m. and 6:3O p. m.
 The casual observer of the homegoing tide of humanity in the late afternoon might have thought that the number was larger. As it is, it exceeds the combined population of the two states of wyoming and Nevada. And even so, the throng is only proportionately greater than the crowds which at Fifth avenue and Twenty-third street, Broadway and Forty-second street and at half dozen
 other local points give a vivid realiza- | ton of the vastness oS New York's popu- lation. We have here also graphic H. lustration of the difficulty of the prob- lem of traffic control
 In the little more than three weeks oc- cupied by the police in taking the cen sus they counted altogether 15,545,745 pe- destrians and 34O7,O6s vehicles. The fig ures showing the proportion of vehicles, approximately one to every five foot passengers, are perhaps the most impor- tant revelation of the county. They dem.
 onstrate the great growth of vehicular traffic and show its bearing on the ques- tion of regulating pedestrians equally
 with vehicles as a safety measure.
 The increase of vehicles does not inn pair the pedestrian's right to the streets but it does make manifest the need o1
 more strictly controls,pg the movement l of pedestrians in the streets, both for l their own protection and for the freer movement of vehicular traffic.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
Fridge Across the Tombigbee

"The Clarke county board of com missioners by unanimous vote agreed Monday to join Washington county in guaranteeing as much as per cent for five years on s100,000 invested in a toll bridge across the Tombigbee river at Jackson, with the understanding that the two counties are to have the right to buy the bridge at cost at any time during the five years said A. B. Tucker, former member of the board of county commissioners. who is here attending the Jackson highway conference.
 "The two counties are to have su- pervision of toll charges.
 "If the bridge is a paying proposi- tion it will cost the counties noth- ing.
 The franchise is offered and not exceeding $25OO interest per annum for five years guaranteed by Clarke coun- ty as an inducement to get the bridge constructed by private corporation
 Washington county will, no doubt make the same offer.''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
HOTEL LOBBIES
Will Be a Great Club

"Fhe membership campaign commit tee of the Birmingham Motor and Country club is very much encouraged ever the success of the efforts being made this week in behalf of the in stitution," said George A. Blinn, Jr.
 The committee has added consider ably upward of 200 names to the clubs membership and it is hoped sev- eral hundred more will enroll them selves before the end of the week.
 The Motor and Country club, with it's beautiful lake, is one of the most attractive institutions here and what comments it especially to young men dependent on salaries is the fact that the initiation is only $10 and the dues only $25O a month"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
AUTUMNAL DREAMS
By Bayard Taylor.

By Bayafd Iaylor. When the maple turns to crimson And the sassafras to gold; When the gentian's in the meadow And the aster's on the wold; When the moon is wrapped in vapor And the night is frosty cold; When the chestnut burrs are opened And the acorns drop like hail, And the drowsy air Is startled With the humping of the fail, With the drumming of the partridge And the whistling of the quail Through the rustling wood I wander, Through the jewels of the year, From the yellow uplands calling, Seeking her that still is dear; She is near me in the autumn, She, the beautiful, is near. Through the smoke of burning summer, When the weary winds are still can see her in the valley, I can see her on the hill- In the splendor of the woodlands, In the whisper of the rill For the shores of earth and heaven Meet and mingle in the blue; She can wander down the glory To the places that she knew, Where the happy lovers wandered l In the days when life was true.
 So think. when days are sweetest And the world is wholly fair l She may sometime steal upon me Through the dimness of the air. With the cross upon her bosom
 And the amaranth in her hair. Once to meet her, ah! to meet her And to hold her gently fast I'll blessed her, till she blessed me- That were happiness at last; That were bliss beyond our meetings
 In the autumns of the pastl
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
SHAKESPEAREANA
the St. Louis Republic.

From the St. Louis Republic.
 William Dean Howells, congratu- lated in Boston on his Stratford- Shakespeare book, told a Stratford- Shakespeare story:
 "In Stratford,' he said, during one of the Shakespeare jubiless, an Ameri- can tourist approached an aged viii leger in a smock and said: "'Who is this chap. Shakespeare anyway
 He was writer, sir.' Oh, but there are lots of writers Why do you make such an internal fuss over this <one. then? Wherever turn l see Shakespeare hotels. Shake speare cakes, Shakespeare chocolates Shakespeare shoes. What the deuce did he write-magazine stories, attacks oh the government, shady novels?
 No. sir; oh, no, sir said the aged villager. T understand he writ for the Bible. sir.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16

Throughout New England, especially ir
 Maine, where a superior balsam fir is found, the work of cutting and shipping Christmas trees is now being actively carried on. Hundreds of thousands of tin se-covered trees are set up every year in the homes of New York, Boston and Phil adelphia, most of which are balsam frs. These Christmas trees are also shipped as far away from their native hills as Bal timore, Washington, Chicago and cities of the middle west The balsam fir is chosen chiefly on account of it's sym metrical and conical shape. The govern ment forest service estimates that the total stand of balsam fir throughout it's range of commercial occurrence in the United States is about 5000 100000 board feet. There is still larger quantity in Canada. There is growing demand for purposes, and it is estimated that about 175 5O0O,000 board feet are cut annually Tn the United States. A large part of this cut goes to satisfy Christmas demands. The woods of the balsam fir is now used extensively in the manufacture of toys and thousands of tons of excelsior in which Christmas toys are packed when sent by express or mail. Fruit baskets and butter boxes are. also made from the wood, and it is being used increas singly wrapped around countless holiday pack ages. The balsam fir is almost indis- pensable to a proper celebration of Christmas.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
Concert Artists in Demand

There is a greater demand for con- cert artists this season than ever be- fore" said Loudon Charlton of New York, one of the most widely known try.
 Tt used to be that singers, pianists and violinists of high reputation were heard only in very large cities Now, as result of the increased interest in fine music, the smaller cities and the college towns have the opportu- nifty of hearing the best
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16

inspection in the latter part of Sep tember. The time is short, but if the people in the counties with bad roads will put their shoulders to the wheel the work can be accomplished.
 Mississippi has made rapid prog ress recently in road building and it is safe to assume that it will give a good account of itself in September. Alabama should be able to do as well as it's enterprising neighbor.
 It all depends upon how vigorously the Alabama campaign is pushed.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
SPARED.

My boy" said the elderly millionaire, at the end of lecture on economy, when was your age carried water for a gang of section hands,
 fIm proud of you, dad, answered the gilded youth. eff it hadn't been for your pluck and perseverance I might have had to do something of the sort myself
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
QUOTATION ON KISSES
he Baltimore News.

from the Baltimore News.
 The monetary value of kiss has often proved puzzling to juries when owners of the bereft lips have sought pecuniary compensation in the courts How to appraise the abstracted caress in terms of cold dollars and cents has not been an easy matter for the '12 good men and true" From now on, how ever, juries may possess some guide for their deliberations, a maximum limit for their awards in such cases.
 A stage hand in Paris (of all placesD, having rescued and returned pearl lost by that operatic planet. Mary Garden, was offered by the ariste an alternative
 reward of s2O or a kiss. Without hesita- ton, he chose the twenty.
 Miss Gardens adequacy in the role of party of the second part in the transac- ton before alluded to must be postulated. She must be reckoned as personifying the eminently kissable. On this assumption, what may be known as select kisses are
 worth something less than a double gle. Seconds would naturally be less valuable.
 It may be objected, of course, that much depends on the attitude Of the party of the first part. What would be worth S20 to one man might not be worth 20 cents to another, and what one might gladly purchase with half his for tune another might not be willing to re- ceive. Also, difference in kisses may be noted-the perfunctory kiss Gas be- tween relatives), the gushing kiss (as be- tween lovers) and the compensatory kiss 1 Gas between Mary Garden and the stage hand). This last variety would probably be worth less than the penultimate de- scription.
 The conditions of the kiss must be considered, then, before rendering a yer 1 dict; but the decision of the stage hand,
 las practical man of the world, in pre- 1 ferring $20 cash to a transitory endear-
 ment even from the sweetest lips throws some light on actual quotations.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
As To Party Harmony

T believe the democrats will have a harmonious convention next June, but 1 think it very prob1ematical as to republican harmony" said w. w. Wal dron of Terre Haute.
 ''The republican leaders are striving hard to unite the factions but it is a difficult undertaking.
 If the democrats in Congress make no serious breaks We will have an- other sweeping victory next fall. I am nothing of politician but I never fail to vote the democratic ticket"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
A RIVER MAP

From the Savannah Press.
 A huge Tennessee river map is outlined in electric lights in a big Washington hotel lobby.-BirininSham Ase-fieraid.
 We can think of no better way to rep resent the deadly currents of Tennessee river.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16

framed check from the Cosmopolitan for $5.
 "'As Gleed was responsible Tor the money I mailed the check to him and he mailed 1t back to me- I din't know how long we kept that check in the mails, but at last got tired and had it framed. Then laid for my late part ner. One day in Venice I came across la lace shawl which approximated s5 in cost and bought it. I gave it the Mrs Gleed and I kept the check-framed and hung up.'"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
"PORK, AND PORK

From the Knckerbocker Press.
 The United States has II navy yards. Germany with bigger navy has three. All the pork in Germany goes into saul sage, pigs knuckles and other edible ex- travagances. ....s -e..s..
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
A GOOD RADIANCE.

Having any trouble these days with that motor car of yours?
 None whatever"
 'You may consider yourself lucky
 And so I do. but my wife shed tears copiously when the blamed thing was at- tached by fellow from the sheriffs of- flee"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16

Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge, president of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, who made one of the shortest he entered office, evidently brides her self on being brief and business-like.
 Cuba's plans to increase hen army dc not necessarily mean that she's looking for trouble.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES
JUST FOR THE TRIP.

JUST FOR THE TRIP. "our friend Twobble is a potential peac crusader"
 What do you mean by that?" 'Tf ke were invited to go along wit all expenses paid he'd accept the inv tation regardless of whether peace wei in sight or not"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-16

The republican national convention will meet again in the Chicago Coliseum and delegates will try not to remember the painful scenes enacted there during the last republican national convention.