davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
The Silence of Lacy

Many, of the newspapers of Ala bama are rather critical because of the fact that Theodore Lacy accepted the verdict of the law without making a clean breast of that which is known as one of the great scandals of the state.
 The Age Herald takes it for granted that Lacy, man of intelligence, is aware of the fact that hs cannot con- vert the people to belief in his in- nocence simply through a declaration to the effect that he is not guilty. Therefore, there is some good reason, it is highly probable, for his continued silence.
 Whether innocent or guilty, Lacy is bearing the burden of the crime which was committed. If he is innocent, then his martyrdom is self-imposed. If he is guilty, one can scarcely criti- cize him for refraining at the present from making full statement.
 At any rate, The Age-Herald can not understand the justice in the gen. eral criticism of the former clerk of the convict bureau. It can have no other source than peculiar desire on the part of probably a majority of the people to delve into the morbid, or satiate their appetites for the sensa- tional. And when the prisoner does make his statement-and when he does it will be full and ample-the people might after all be disappointed in the mildness of its tone.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
Let the People Decide

During the spring or summer the people of Birmingham will be asked to vote a bond issue for the financial relief of the municipal government.
 It is said that when the people ex- press themselves on that matter, they will also be asked to express them selves on several others-among them being the bill pending before the leg islature providing for an increase in the number of city commissioners from three to five.
 This bill has caused a. great deal of discussion throughout Birmingham, and has found the people divided as to whether or not the proposed change is good or wise. It is entirely proper, therefore, that the people be per mitted to express their opinion at the polls.
 The Age Herald is convinced that it would be unwise to increase the number of commissioners. However, if the people declare for the greater number, The Age-Herald will accept the verdict with good grace. And there can be no question but that the members of the Jefferson county dele gation to the legislature would ac- cept the verdict, and in the event that the people opposed the idea embodied in the bill, would recall that measure from it's position in committee.
 By all means let there be a referen- dunn.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27

ment and inscribe suitable epitaph thereon, so that his merits may be set forth at their true value, but a desire to prevent the natural dissolu- tion of the body after death is not so common. Few persons give the mat ter any thought. Those who do are more or less indifferent. And it is better so. Nothing but the most egregious vanity could prompt man to take such precautions as the Phila- delphian did.
 "Dust to dust" is the memorable law and the ''post mortem egotist" wastes money that might serve for better purpose in trying to circumvent na- ture.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
FEEDING A BIG SNAKE

From the March Popular Mechanics
 Magazine.
 After being imported from India, the largest snake caged in the Lincoln Park zoo, at Chicago. steadfastly re- fused to take nourishment and was be- lieved to be gradually starving to death. Tn the several months of his captivity his weight decreased from 300 to 215 pounds. Numerous methods for rousing him were tried without success, until s food gun was purchased and the rep tile led forcibly. The instrument is provided with a large clyinder and plunger actuated by a crank. The snake was taken from his cage, given a hot bath, during which his summer coat was removed, and then placed on board, 50 feet in length. at the end of which the food gun with its cylinder, loaded with 20 pounds of chopped pork and beef mixed with fresh pigs blood, was mounted. The strength of 20 men was required to carry out this opera tion. A board through which a circular hole was drilled was then inserted be- tween the reptiles jaws. and a tube ex- tending from the nozzle of the food machine passed through this into his throat. The crank was turned, and the meat forced into the snake Before the operation was finished 50 pounds of the mixture was disposed of in this manner and the snake was then returned to his cage
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
POINTED PARAGRAPHS

From the Chicago News.
 A crying shame-the neighbours baby.
 Eve invented temptation, but forgot to patent it.
 When an old man falls in love it's apt to be bad fall.
 Love laughs at locksmiths, but it hasn t any use for the pokesmith.
 You have a right to express yoer opin- ion of the weather, but what's the use?
 Occasionally a man is known to the world as the husband of 8 prominent woman.
 If man owes you money he is always ready to laugh at your weak witticisms.
 Anyway. a man nevev has to worry about a ventilating system for his air castles
 Book learning is all that man needs in this world-if he is going to spend his time in jail.
 And it is easier to marry a girl for her beauty than it Is to live with her for the same reason.
 A female of the species admits that women kiss each other because they think they ought to-not because they want to. The man who tells others how to make fortune in . Bhort time is seldom able to show a bank balance of more than three figures.
 The wise man graps small opportuni- ties and makes them big. while the fool sits in an easy chair and waits for great opportunities to como hie way.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27

The ancient jest about dogs being con- verted into sausages seems to have been verified in Germany. dispatch from Copenhagen states that German agents are buying dogs of all kinds from farmers and peasants in West Jutland. As much as s14 is being paid for fat dogs. It is said that these dogs are made into sau- sages for human consumption. chifiy among the German people Parisians have eaten rats and mice in the past Compared to diet like that. fat dog in good health when butchered and prop erly prepared would furnish forth no mean banquet board. Although little has been permitted to leak out in regard to the food shortage in Germany, her new naval policy indicates that the countrys s plight is becoming desperate. The idea of eating a horse or dog may be re- pellent to persons with squeamish stom- achs, but those friends of man in an emergency furnish him nutritious food. It has even been said that dog meat is as good as possum meat, if the dog is young and tender
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
A Railroad Presidents Error

That was a remarkable speech made to the Chicago Traffic club Thursday night by William Sproule, president of the Pacific system of the Southern Pacific Railroad company. It was a peculiar mixture of sound common sense and ultra materialism. Take this extract for instance:
 The booster lifts nothing higher
 than the level of his own teeth.
 The trumpeter of prosperity be-
 guiles only his own ears. Prosperi-
 ty is real or it does not exist We
 do not have to look for it; 1t comes
 to us. It grows within our sight
 like plant coming to flower.
 In other words, Do not believe anything you can't see." What if George Washington at Valley Forge, surrounded only by his ragged and starving soldiers and handicapped by the machinations of enemies at Phil adelphia, had believed in such per- nicious doctrine? Where would the union cause have been if Lincoln had been guided only by the too evident reverses and clamor of Let the southern states go," in the first two years of the war? What makes some cities with no natural advantages greater than others which have every natural advantage? Why have thou sands of our poor boys become mill lionaires and public leaders? Was it because they sat still and refused to believe there was such thing as suc- cess until they could actually see it and have possession of it?
 No, Mr. Sproule, ability to see a thing is not the real test of it's ex- istence. Long ago it was truly said that the things that are unseen are greater than the things that are seen. Mental suggestion does help. Boost ing long since proved it's worth. Even the plant which comes into flower so you can see it must have congenial surroundings; it must be in world which smiles upon it and it must be nurtued by hopeful universe long before it unfolds it's beautiful colors to the man who did not believe they were there until he could see them.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
ConstantinOple TrembIes

The allies are knocking at the doors of Constantinople. The main forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles have been reduced by British and French warships and now begins the tortuous journey of the Hellespont to the Sea of Marmora. It is a long journey through mined area and with other important forts on both the Asiatic and European sides.
 In this strait has lain Constantino- ple's safety and security for centu- ries. The ancient city of Constantine passed out of the hands of Christians in 1453. Will this year, 1915, see it's final relin4uishment by the Mussul- mans?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
MegalOmania

Human beings show their egotism in many curious ways. Some people, most gravely afflicted with megalo- mania, live to ripe old age and die blissfully unconscious of the fact that they have monstrous conceit of themselves. The simpler forms of egotism are so commonly met with that they can be passed by without comment, but now and then some body's eccentricities are written up in the newspapers and these are source of never failing interest to a student of human nature.
 Henry Close, an engineer and mathematician, who died recently in Philadelphia, left $3O,OOO to be used 'sin caring for his grave and those of his ancestors. For years this man made study of ways to keep his body inviolate after death. He calculated exactly how much concrete and steel would be necessary to give him what he considered a "safe" tomb. He specified the kind of embalming fluid to be used, the method of caulking his metallic casket and the cement to be used in making his tomb both water proof and airtight. Doubtless all these precautions will be carried out to the letter.
 People, particularly old people, fre- quently make elaborate preparations for their last resting places and at intervals genius looms up with the forethought to build his own monu-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
THE GHosrLY SINGER OF MADISON

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
 strange story comes from Madison, Wis, which deserves the attention of the Sc ety for Psychical Research. The governor of the state has been annoyed for three weeks by a mysterious voice in his private office in the capitol. A per sistent search for the source of it has been in vain; not even a microphone or other mechanical device has been found in the walls. Yet every afternoon at 2 o'clock the strains of "The Holy City" have pealed forth in clear soprano. No wonder the governor and his private sec- 1etary are beginning to get nervous. It would be bad enough to have to listen to that saccharine product of musical inspi- ration from some visible singer. To hear it in fashion to make your flesh creep, as the Fat Boy said, must be more than even high official can bear.
 The supernatural may be always capa- ble of natural explanation; but there are unsolved mysteries in spite of the activities of science, and this may be one of them. Most persons believe in fairies, as Peter Pan would have them and if in fairies, why not in ghosts or apparitions or other tricks of the senses? It would be rather a pity, on the whole. to have the Madison mystery explained away. If the governor is annoyed he might change his office. Or would the insubstantial singer follow him wherever he went ? The experiment might be attempted un- der the supervision of some eminent au- thority on spirits, like Professor Hyslop.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
CHANGE AT SING SING

Graham Romeyn Taylor in The Survey.
 Two dramas were recently enacted at Sing Sing prison, one on Christmas Day and the other on the day following. One was described on the front page of every New York daily; the other has until now gone unnoticed. The first was play part of the Christmas Day programme which was presented in the prison chapel for the first time on any stage" before being brought to one of the New York city theatres.
 The name of the play is Sinners" !" However much this fact may have seemed like rubbing it in" on the audience, the irony in no wise detracted from the pris- oners' hearty enjoyment of the perform ance, and they applauded vigorously when the machinatfons of the wicked failed and tht heroine chose the ''staight and nar- row" The guess may be hazarded that if the moral of the play stirs any guilty consciences they will be quite as num- erous in the Broadway audiences as at Sing Sing.
 The drama of the following day was also enacted in the prison chapel-serving this time not as a playhouse but as a courtroom. Behind the dingy table sat Warden Thomas Mott Osborne. the prin- cibal keeper and the prison physician-- these three constituting court of last resort to hear appeals from the lower court consisting of i've prisoners. A case was called and the young ser geant-at-arms. himself~ doing time. led forward . middle-ated prisoner. Hs ssamed to typifx unbending hardness. q
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
KILLED BY THE DEAD

From the DallaS Times Herald.
 The snow covered field lay bloodstained under the stars. Searchlights to aid man to slay his fellow man even after the day of fighting had ceased illuminated the battle plain and the great dodge-podgs head of slain husbands and sons and sweethearts.
 But beneath the slain lay the wounded Here is an immortal pen picture of the scene sent out by the Associated Press It is terrible in it's restrained simplicity
 "At night, under the glare of search lights, the undulating mass of wounded made efforts to extricate itself. Then to- wards o'clock in the morning they moved no more''
 Death beneath the dead. The breath of
 life choked by the accumulation of car
 casses that were once men. The soldier slaying even after one is slain. The living below stimulating the dead
 above into ghastly counterfeit of life. Ccrpses slipping and sliding and tumbling into the white hell of winter. Dante's inferno is Sunday school tract compared to this. Yet we are glad the picture has been painted. It gives one q clearer idea of what this twentieth cen- tury war Is.
 Where now are the gallant dragons of the story books with their charges and countercharges in which the hero is never killed?
 The sham of fiction fades before this ] corpse-chargsd scene of the thing a It is. The mass of dead and dying falls apart and each individual becomes man who. l if left to his own wishes. would have srcnt his life at peace with his fellow uan
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
REAL NEUTRALITY
From the Houston Post.

From the Houston Post.
 The Electro Steel company of Pittsburg appears to support the policy of real not simulated, neutrality more cordiall} than do some other American concern| that are furnishing munitions of war d European belligerents. Requested by th| Pittsburg foreign trade commission d bid on contract to furnish part of d order for 100000 drop forge shells. valued at $4,000,000, wanted by the British gov| erDment, the firm promptly declined, bas| ing it's action on Humanitarian reasond The president and general manager o| the company explained: "Our company ro| fused to consider this contract becaus| We do not think warning nations shoul} be encouraged. As long as they are abij to purchase supplies of this nature thI war will continue. wish to state we ar| no. opposed to England and her allied nor to Germany and her allies. We dcn'l desire to make money from instrument| that are used to slaughter people, and we think other companies might do vel to consider the matter in the same light. That kind of stand and talk in the fac| of fet contract to make money is worti more than many chautauqua lectures an( futile resolutions of peace societies.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Story on the Gwins

A former student of Auburn was telling last night an interesting story on Jerry and Houston Gwin, which illustrates the esteem in which the brothers, we'll known in Birmingham, hold each other
 'tThe Gwin brothers came 10 Auburn, D said the old student, confident not only in their own strength but in the strength of each other. And when they reported for football practice they immediately made good. They played tackle positions and the one was always ready to rush to the assistance of the other when he was in trouble
 One day in a classroom the professor asked Jerry a question. Jerry thought a long while, and then shook his head
 can't answer that question:, he finally said, and then with a smile of confidence which beamed all over his face he rejoined
 But if you really want to know the an- swer, just ask Houst ,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
A WEARY LOT I'd THINE

By Sir Walter Scott. A weary lot Is thine, fair maid. A weary lot is thine! To pull the thorn thy brow to braid, And press the rue for wine. A lightsome eye, a soldiers mien. A feather of the blue, 2 A doublet of the Lincoln gre l- No more of me you know
 My love! No more of me you knew. ''This morn 10 merry Juno. I trow Tho rose is budding fain; But 6ho shall bloom In winter snow Ere Wo two meet aguln." He turn'd his chArger os he Aaaks Upon tho river shores He gAve tho bridlo-ro1nu ohe se Said. "Adleu for ever mof~
 Ny love! And atieu for evermorA"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
Iron situation More Encouras,ne

The weekly report of Matthew Addy & Co. shows much more encouraging sit uation in the iron market. It reads:
 This week the iron market has con tinued slowly to broaden. There is dis tincty more inquiry and there has been great deal of quiet buying. There is nothing spectacular in the situation, there Is no excitement, no special features, just gradual recovery that is slow but apparently promises to be sure We have seen great many foundrymen this week and the testimony of them all is to the effect that they are getting more and more business. All of them notice a striking improvement in the volume of their new orders as compared with six weeks ago. And in some lines there is such an improvement that the shops are running full. This increase in the work done by consumers is already reflected in the pgsiron market, and 1t is particu- larly visible in the larger tonnage of iron which the furnaces are shipping. As a. matter of fact, the foundres Isfrunning without stocks of .iron on hand: they have. forced the. furnaces to carry all the surplus, but this surplus is small mat ter compared to the normal needs of the country.
 The export situation continues to grow more favorable. Production of pig iron abroad has been greatly reduced and prices there are rapidly advancing. AL ready, in spite of excessively high freight rates export sales have been made, and it is plain that when the war is over and ocean freights go back to where they belong America is going to be called upon for unparalleled shipments of rails loco- motives. machinery and iron and steel in all kinds of finished and unfinished forms. The day is surely coming when we shall see iron come to it's own again. We have been in the depths for the depression in the iron trade has been more severe than in any other branch of industry, but there is no trade that has recupera- tive strength of the iron trade, based as it is on the most vital needs of civiiza- tion. and the dawn of the better time is in sight,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
An opportunity sI,whtcd

The Huntsville Times slipped up laughably the other day. said Wilbur Hines of Cullman, who spent. yesterday in Birmingham.
 The Times, in an effort to compliment State Senator Bonner of Wilcox, said {: B stands for Bonner, Brains and Busi- ness.
 Tt would have been apropos had be substituted or at least added Bull. For E does stand for bull, ard Senator Bonner enjoys his wide reputation more for the fact that he is the author of the famous Bull Bill than because of his brain or his inclination to transact business.
 I can't understand how bright news- paper could have overlooked the oppor- tunity.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27

he gazed steadily into the faces of th{ judges.
 What he said was in substance this:
 I ask the court for leave to withdray
 my appeal. The first trial created a wrond impression of my character and it is m earnest desire to remove that impressiod as much as possible. I have concluded that the best way to do that is to wfthI draw my appeal and publicly acknowledg( that I was wrong. I harbor no resent ment against the officer and assure thx court that it is not likely to hear anJ other complaint against me"
 In one episode was dramatized wha many people are calling the wonderful thing Tom Osborne is doing at Sing Sing. But the new warden says it is the me
 who are doing the wonderful thing" HI calls it wave of righteousness" Sinc{ self-government came in early in Del cember there has been not single viola| tion of the rules serious enough to warI liant 'punishment"-that is. imprisonI ment in the dark cells
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
A GOOD OUTLOOK
From the Nashville Banner.

From the Nashville Banner.
 All north Alabama counties where di- versification had been the practice for several years are in highly prosperous condition. The farmers made money enough on diversification to pay their debts without selling a bale of cotton When they do sell cotton 1t will be at a price that will return good profit Birmingham Age-Herald.
 Northern Alabama is contiguous to Nashville. and a region from whence this
 city draws a large part of it's trade.
 What the Age-Herald says of northern
 Alabama is true in a greater degree of
 middle Tennessee, where but little area
 is ever devoted to cotton.
 The middle Tennessee farmers and
 those of the Tennessee river valley in northern Alabama grow wheat in consid- erable quantity. The wheat crop last year brought good price, and that now
 growing promises to bring the best price in years.
 Middle Tennessee farmers, too, sold their mules and surplus horses to the British government at good prices. Middle Tennessee and some portions of northern Alabama raise cattle for mar
 ket, and that is now 9 very profitable industry.
 Food products of all kind bring good prices now, and both middle Tennessee l and northern Alabama will have much produce of this kind to put on the market.
 These same things might be said, too, of those portions of Kentucky. West and East Tennessee that Nashville includes iu | it's trade area.
 All of the farming region about Nash vile is in a good fix now financially, and the prospect for 1915 is very encour. aging. | The year should really be one of great prosperity to Nashville and the region round about.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-27
More on Telephone Manner.

T was much interested in an ex- pression I saw in this column the oth- CT day regarding telephone manners" said man who has occasion 10 use the telephone constantly. T heartily indorse all that was said. built seemed to me that the principal offense against courtesy was omitted.
 Tt always makes me want to fight when l lift receiver and say Hello, to have someone demand, Who is thIs? 7? make it practice to answer such a demand only with like question. think this is the pinnacle of rudeness
 One wouldn't walk into another mans office and without introduction or any other preliminaries suddenly demand. who are you? but he will do 1t over the phone and it Is extremely exasperating to me. The man [ take off my hat to is the one who says. This is J. B. Brown of Brown & Co l wish to speak to MT. Smith, He's a real gentleman