davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
OUR NATIONS WEALTH

From the Chicago News.
 Our nations wealth has doubled since 1900 Measured in dollars this 15-year in crease is more than $94, ,O00, 900, GOO.
 The census bureau says that our total wealth is nearly s1sS, ,OOO, o0O,00O We are by far the richest nation in the world. Observe some of the items of our wealth:
 Real property and improvements, taxed and exempt, $ll0. 900 OOO, GOO; railroads and equipment, s16,oOo 0oo,0OO; manufactured products. 5,ooOoo0,ooO; furniture car riages. automobiles, etc, over $S, GOO 000,- 000; live stock, over s6,0o0, ,000O 900; manu- featuring machinery, toos etc, $6, 6,0o0 0o0,- GOO; street railways, over s4O0o, 0o0,0o0, and agricultural products over s5,00o0o0,- GOO In clothing and articles of personal adornment we have invested s4 4295, ,0oS, ,59S.
 New York is the richest state, with over $25, ,OOo GOO, GOO of wealth; Illinois and Penn sylvana are close rivals for second each with nearly s1550o, coo, ,0oo then follow Ohio, with nearly ssOoO, ,OooOOo California. with nearly ss,5oo 0oo, GOO; Iowa. with s7.75o,o ooo coo, and Massachusetts with over s6,ooO- OOO,O0O.
 Richest of the state groups Is the middle Atlantic (New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where over &3.000,o00, ,o0O of wealth is owned; next come the north central states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin,, with $39, 800. 0oo OO0
 In strong contrast are two groups of states-the west north central and the southern Atlantic. Take the first made up of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Kan sas, and you find a wealth of over s31, 00o- GOO, GOO: now fin the second, comprising Del aware, Maryland Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina. South Carolina, Georgia and Florida Cthrowing in District of Co., lumbia for good measure), we find not s15,- GOO, ,O00 GOO of wealth.
 Wealth increase comes largely from the increase in the value of land. Land is now cheapest in the southern states, and in the next 10 or 15 years it's increase in value in the south will be greatest.
 If you haven't already got your fair share of our country's wealth, it's up to you to study the figures and get busy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
Breaking Records

The trade journals report increasing activity In the steel industry. The ex- port business of the United States Steel corporation is running at the highest rate in the history of that concern. In 1912, its banner export year, shipments totaled 2,218,000 tons. It may not quite reach that record this year, as the rush of orders didn { start until spring, but the last half of 1915 gives promise of witnessing the largest record ever known.
 Orders for wire during the past six months have been on an enormous scale and inquiries are still coming fast. The Wall Street Journal says that the "effect of the heavy foreign business on deliveries is expected to result in a substantial increase in domestic steel business in the latter half of the year"
 The marked improvement in the iron and steel industry is being felt in general trade and there is good ground for predicting a high degree of prosperity in most sections of the country in the autumn. The prospects for the Birmingham district are bright indeed
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
LUKE M'LUKE SAYS
ne Cincinnati Enquirer.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
 What has become of the od-fa shioned man who had to have clove or a coffee bean for a chaser?
 After fellow has roamed around the world for a while he learns that the ''Welcome' on doormat means about as much as the Excuse me" a man grunts when he wipes his feet on your new pants
 A man with a three-days growth of black whiskers isn't very beautiful But he looks better than a woman who has a bout a quarter of an inch of white fizz all over her face. Any man would rather be an unpopular talker than a popular listener.
 Most men and some women have habit of crossing their fingers when they pray to be led away from temptation. The woman who goes downtown in a | see-more skirt and a pek-a- boo waist can be awfully shocked because her husband goes around the house in an old pair of pants and an undershirt.
 The only reason why there is a piano in a whole lot of homes is because g woman isn't going to give the neighbors a chance to think that they are any better than she is.
 1 It takes the average married man about 20 years to realize that there is no place i like home.
 When your name gets into the pape because you performed brave deed mo- body In town sees the item. But wher your name gets into the paper becaus, you were arrested for being drunk, every body in town sees the item the minut, they pick up the paper.
 Why is it that big woman who look I like house mover always cops out little man about the size of a mouse wher she gets married?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
NEW DEADLY PROJECTLE

fcations, but not to the same extent as the German gun by far. But in opera tion against trenches and in general field work it is unexceled In the first place. the projectile has terrible velocity, allow ing much fatter trajectory. It hits its mark in a horizontal direction. if indeed. 1t actually be aimed at an object, which, as rule, it Is not, the object generally being to explode the shell, not in or on a given trench but over it, about 20 feet In the air. It eIoodes by time fuse. not by contact. and scatters its hail of death at right angles to the line of flight to great distances. It's explosion is more nearly instantaneous than the German projectles, and, as the explosion occurs in the air above the trenches on the line of troops, none of the explosive force is lost Indeed, so terrific is the force of the explosion that German troops have been found dead in the trenches in the most lifelike attitude. with never a mark of the scattered grape shot or fragments on them-killed simply by the concussion alone, which is sufficiently great to burst all the small blood vessels in the lungs and other parts of the body.
 
 the specialized class of projectiles. and if it operates in accordance with the claims of the inventor will prove the most eff cient in its particular class of work that has yet been found.
 On exploding it scatters broadcast a rain of white hot molten metal, more effective in setting fire to infamma ble substance than anything heretofore used, and more deadly to human beings. The metal within the shell is heated to 54O0 degrees Fa- renheit while the projectile is in flight by an alumino-th -thermic chemical mixture.
 The value of such a projectle when used in the sort of fighting which often occurs in the struggle for a town or vil- lage can be well imagined when it is con- sidered that in addition to the scattered molten metal which would set fire to all buildings in the vicinity of the explosior. the inventor has provided it also with a large chamber filled with deadly poisonous gas, which instantly would kill any one who attempted to quench the flames be- fore they gained headway. The gas used is not that with which the Germans fill their gas bombs bromine, heavy corro- slVe fumes which float along the surface of the ground and sink into the trench furrows. but which with the aid of re- spirators the British have been able to ignore largely. 1t is hydrocyanc acid gas the most instantaneous and deadly poison known, so powerful poison that as an Irish professor opce stated, ''an al- most infinitesimal amount of 1t, placed on the tongue of a rabbit. would kill the strongest man."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
STORY OF POSTAGE STAMP

offered proof that was incontrovertible that the actual cost of the government for carrying each letter averaged only a small fraction of a cent. He proved that the expense of hiring men to figure out postal rates on the system then exist ing, based on distance and the profit gained, and he urged the adoption of a flat rate for all letters under a certainf weight no matter how short or long journey they were to make. He originated the idea of pasting a label on every letter, to show that the cost had been prepaid to the government and pointed out that this would save the expense and time of coi- lecting at point of delivery, which custom was then in general use.
 The idea sprung by Hill and his friend, James Chalmers, gained friends after the first roars of laughter had died away. The government was pressed by not a few thinkers of the time to adopt the sys- tenn. And so, on May 6, 1S40, postage stamps, stamped labels," as they were called at the time, were inauguratedt On the first stamp was a profile picture of the young Queen Victoria. The effect on the postoffice was instantaneous. With
 
 at that, the business of the postoffice nearly trebled
 The hostage stamp came into use in the United States in 1S47, seven years after Great Britain had adopted it. Five and 10-cent stamps were the first Amer ican postage stamps, and they carried the heads of Franklin and Washington. Four years after the letter rate was lowered to cents, and in 1883 to ? cents. Before the postage stamp was adopted, the pos tai charges were more moderate in the United States than in England Our rates were cents for 30 miles or less, 121a cents up to 150 miles, 1ss4 cents up to 400 miles and 25 cents for every distance over that
 Hill, the discoverer of postage stamps. was knighted and received a gift of $45.-L ooO, raised by public subscription.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

From tho Philadelphia Record. IF the latest deadly projectile lives up
 to the claims of it's inventor John
 A Hays Hammond, who also is the in- yentor of the successfully tried wireless controlled miniature torpedo boat, new terror will be added to the rain of death streaming above the heads of the par ticipants in the European struggle for su- premacy.
 The war on the Galican and East Prus- sian fronts is one of the strategic han dline of troops, the great masses of which in that vast territory never seem to be able to complete continuous line and hold it securely on either side. Hence artillery has not the same value as in the west, where all of the latest victorious advances. have been prepared by terrific and concentrated artillery fire.
 In the west, therefore, the types and efficiency of guns and the character of projecties used are often. nay, nearly always, of supreme importance. and the various types of cannon in use are re- ceiving such drastic tests never before have been the lot of heavy ordnance. Each type has its advantages and draw backs.
 The terrific efficiency of the German Az centimeter needs little comment. What it did to the permanent Notifications against which it was used in the earlier stages of the war is too well known. The things which it cannot do, however, are no. so well known to the average reader.
 The 42-centimeter. and most of the other large German and Austrian guns, fire
 giant shells, which explode on contact.
 They are. of course, meant for rather long range, and fire at high angle, the projectile describing a pronounced curve | in flight and falling from above on it's
 target rather than hitting it in horizon ! against the concrete sunken forts of the
 Belgians. In operation against field works and trenches, however, it does not
 do its work so we'll
 | It digs holes in the ground. The speed
 of the projectile allows 1t to penetrate
 the earth for an appreciable distance be- 1 fore the explosion occurs, and the result
 Is that the force of the sudden expand i ing gases is driven upward from cone
 shaped hole in the ground, and it has often happened that soldiers, we'll dug in,' or l lying but a short distance from the point | of impact, escape the destructive forces
 which shoot upward over their heads. The
 42-centimeter is a highly specialized piece of ordnance.
 The French ''15," however, is piece adapted for general use. It has become
 the standard weapon of the French ar tillery, and, while it did not create the furore of the 42-centimeter at the begin
 ming of the war, it is proving its general
 efficiency more and more as the fighting goes on, and proving it in unmistakable !manner.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
From the Detroit Journal.

From the Detroit Journal.
 "HE civilized world today pays hom-
 age to the postage stamp, the little
 friend of humanity, on it's seventy fifth birthday. Not since the discovery of printing had there come to human beings such boon as was launched in England on May 6, 1S40, when the first postage stamps were used. That date in history marked the beginning of popular com munication, placing within the reach of the poorest peasant the means of writing to relatives and friends. It put the peo- pie of the world into closer touch, it en- couraged the art of writing as no other agency had done. But, greatest of all, it spread civilization.
 Millions of people who today open their mail scarcely glance at the little stamp that adorns the wrapper. It but repre- sents to them the cost of transporung and handling by the government. Few indeed realize that the postage stamp is a modern contrivance, and that it's great aid to modern life has played re- markable part in the worlds development during the past three-quarters of a cen tury.
 It was in 1S40 that Rowland Hill, an Eng fish schoolmaster, stirred all Europe to laughter by declaring that James Chal- mers and himself had devised a system whereby two-sheet letter could be sent from London to Edinburgh for cents and yet leave the government a fair profit on the transaction. At that time the fee was 54 cents for that distance for a two-sheet letter. Such an idea seemed ridiculous to the public, which had looked upon the sending of communications as an expensive luxury. And so the joke went around, and the poor laughed with the others at the idea of any means that would place them on a par with the aris- tocracy.
 Hill persisted despite the rdicule. He worked diligently on his schedule and when the time was ripe he flashed the system on Parliament and the public. Hill
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
LOVESIGHT

From the Beaumont Enterprise When do I see thee most, beloved one? When in the light the spirits of mine
 eyes
 Before thy face, their altar. solemize The worship of that Love through thee
 made known?
 alone), Close-kissed and eloquent of still replies The twilight-hidden gimmering visage
 lies, And my soul only sees thy soul its own? o love, my love! if I do more should see Thyself, nor on the earth the shadow of
 thee,
 How then should sound upon Life's dark
 ening slope The ground whirl of the perished leaves
 of Hope. The wind of Deaths imperishable wing?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
WHY MOTT

From the Dallas News A tramp going across field was ac- costed by the owner. You'll have to get out of here" 'Why?'
 Because it's posted" "Who posted it ?''
 "I did.'
 What right have you to post it?'' Because it's mine" Where did you get it?" "I inherited it from my father.' Well, where did he get it?" "He inherited it from his father" 'H'm! Where did he get it?'' He inherited it from his father.' 'Um-h-m! And where did he get 1t ?" He fought for it'' The tramp took off his coat. Well" he said, I'll fight you for it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
Among the Shakespeareans

With the approach of the Shake speare tercentenary, April, 1916, the plays of the immortal bard will be studied in literary clubs and in the schools and colleges more eagerly than ever, and very naturally there will be revival of interest in the Shakespearean stage.
 The conference to be held in Wash ington October l, under the auspices of distinguished actors and men and women prominent in letters, will dis cuss plans for the tercentenary com memoration. Also it will consider the most fitting way to give enduring national form to our sense of debt to the Shakespearean drama, literature and language" Those arranging for the conference urge large and rep resentative attendance
 One of the features of the tercen-
  tenary will be, of course, the presenta- tion of one or more of the plays in the principal cities by eminent talent. In the old stock company days the Legitimate" drama was in great cities Shakespeare was enacted every season; but under the present system only a few of the star actors essay either the tragedies or the comedies.
 One frequently hears that the taste of theatregoers has changed; that peo- pie want novelty and will not go to see Shakespeare's plays performed. That is true generally speaking as re- gards second rate companies, but great actor in Hamlet, Macbeth, Lear or Julius Caesar draws as well today as ever.
 It is worthy of note that there has never been a period since David Garrick's time, in the eighteenth cen tury, when there were not one or more Shakespearean celebrities play ing to crowded houses. Junius Brutus Booth was followed by his son Edwin, who was even a greater artist than his father. Macready, the English Shake spearean, who visited the United States during the time of the elder Booth, was a distinctly intellectual Hamlet.
 Edwin Forest and Charlotte Cush- man were contemporaries of the Booths, and in the '70s Lawrence Bar rett came to be recognized as close rival of Edwin Booth. After the death of Booth, Henry Irving held the primacy in Shakespearean rolls. Today we have Robert Mantell at the maturity of his histrionc power. E. H. Sothern is achieving fame in Ham, let. And es-Robertson, the greatest actor taat England has ever produced, perhaps, is now in the prime of life Not a few critics say that he is even a greater Hamlet than was Edwin Booth, who was ideal
 During the tercentenary year, when everybody will be reading and discuss ing the worlds greatest dramatist, any one of the Legitimate" stars could play Shakespeare every night and no theatre would be big enough to hold the people.
 -
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
ALABAMA PRESS

Decaturs Daily: The continued rains. interspersed by sunshine. insures a bump CT crop for Alabama. The optimist will be vindicated.
 Gadsden Evening Journal: Etowah farmers are not nearly as much interested in cotton prices this year as they were last But they do want to know what corn in going to bring, and how much they can get for their hay and their hogs and their cattle.
 Talladega Daily Home: Alabama 2 wheat crop this year is 1,0S1,0oo bushels, against GOO last year. or about half a bushel per capita. Alabama also raised s,s45,O0O bushels odf oats, small increase over last year. The diversifcation cam paign has been vindicated
 Greensboro Record: Ala bama is deter mined to feed herself next year, and the present prospects are that 1t will have plenty and to spare. Cheap feedstuff sounds good to us.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
Popular Summer Resort

Numbers of visitors are now fiocking to Piedmont Springs for the seasons out ing remarked ". H. Jackson, who spent Sunday in Birmingham.
 Piedmont is an Alabama resort located on the Atlanta. Birmingham and Allan tic, and this year is proving quite popular With people of both Alabama and Georgia. It Is, indeed, very attractive place. I am always glad to visit my Birmingham friends and a hearty welcome will all ways await them at Piedmont"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
First Visit to Birmingham

T am much pleased with Birmingham said the Rev. Father Carter of Galveston, who spent yesterday here as the guest of the Very Rev. Dean Coyle
 This is my first visit. The business district is not unlike Houston in ap- pearance-tall buildings and many blocks that look new.
 Houston Is still going ahead, but trade there this summer is not quite up to normal conditions. Galveston Is a very busy town now' In fact, prosperity there is in full swing
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Returns from Meridian

Jerome B. Cohen, Associated Press op- erator has returned from a three weeks vacation spent with his parents in Me- ridian.
 nave greatly enjoyed the visit to my old home," said MT Cohen. Tt was delight to be with my father and mother and pleasant to meet many friends.
 Tn business way. Meridian is hold ing It's own, and I was particularly struck with the large amount of building there"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
Toll of the Gun

The gun that supposedly "wasn't loaded" has again got in it's deadly work. A 9-year-old boy was killed and his sister and brother-in-law were seriously hurt recently near Dallas, Tex.
 A 16-year-old boy had been carry
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
BEGINNING THE DAY-O God of |

BEGINNING THE DAY--O God of all grace, as Thou forgivest, may I. Help me to seek out him who has injured me that we may be one. Grant that we shall not imprison ourselves in the ugly dungeon Of and III feeling. Unite us in our love and our labor and our prayers that we may show forth Christ to the world. In His name. Amen.-H. M. F.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
NO WONDER

From the Pittsburg Dispatch.
 Ut takes 10 shells to kill one man. de- clared German soldier to an American correspondent on the French frontier Re- membering the number alleged to have been claip, it is no wonder the allies are scarce of ammunition.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

The German submarine u-2s. reported by the British admiralty to have been sunk. Is estimated by a British paper to have cost approximately s1oOo.0oo. The E-4 of the British navy was completed in 1913 for approximately s5eoOoO. The E class is not the largest nor the most ex- pensive type of submarine in the Brit ish navy. The admiralty statement puts the cost of the hull, fittings and equip ment' of the E-4 at e2s,7s7 Her pro- polling and other machinery cost e7s. .1O5. Incidental charges amounted to a1Ss9. The u-29 of the German navy was one of the newest and most powerful submarines. She was armed with two 14-pounder guns and two anti-aireraft guns. She had oil engines of about 2O0O horse power which gave her a nominal speed of r to IS knots. She is believed to have had a radius of 5000 or 1000 miles,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

The buffalo whose head adorns the nickel was recently sold at auction be cause he had outlived his usefulness"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

The wife of an Illinois school teacher bought hat for s6.75 and now a di- worse-or better-the school teacher is one of those rare birds in his profession who owns an automobile and a motor boat
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05
SOMETHING AT LEAST
nm the wasb,neton Star.

From the Washington Star.
 When European government cannot suppress enemy it can at least sup press the newspaper sthat venture to re- fer to the fact.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

The chance to take a trip down the warrior on a steamboat should appeal to Birmingham citizens who have hereto fore done most of their cruising in East Lake rowboats.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

The practice of lodging taxes con- tinues to obtain in the most exclusive circles.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

Yesterday was the glorious Fourth, but today it is the glorious Fifth. For some 1t will be whole holiday; for others half holiday. May there be many happy returns.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

Missouri man made s3S in one day hauling automobiles out of holes. In more ways than one the automobile is bless ing to the farmer
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

Can'st tell, why ones nose stands the midde of his facet Why, to keep his eyes on either side his nose, that what man cannot smell out, he may spy Into.
 king Lear.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

As territory grabbers by force of arms tho italians are leaving the French behind.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

Dahlonega, Ga, where In 1885 the first gold mine in the United States "as operated and the scene of active gold mining today, has now a bright and breezy weekly newspaper. Vol. |. No. l of the Dahlonega Echo was ls- sued last week, It makes a fine appear anCe
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

The birth rate in France has fallen off alarmingly since the war began. Now, if ever the Gallic stork should do his duty.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-05

It is now possible to buy picture of your favorite moving picture star in a department store and move it whenever you like.