davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18
BY HAYDEN CHURCH

mined to do our level best. For the first
"a hours we saw nothing to frighten us.
but as daylight broke on the second day
there was a large American cruiser not
half a mile from us, who, before we could
turn around, steamed straight at us and
began firing rapidly, but very much at
random, the shot and shell all passing
over or wide of us. Luckily, however, we
were nuite prepared for run, and, still
more luckily, heavy sauall of wind and
rain that came on helped us vastly, as we
were dead to wndward of the enemy,
and. having no top weights, we soon
dropped her astern. He most foolishly kept
yawing to fire his bow-chasers, losing
ground each time he did so. BY o'clock
we were out of range, unhft and by noon
out Of sight of anything but smoke. We
We're now evidently in dangerous waters,
steamers being reported from our mast
head every hour. and we had to keep NOV
ing about In all directions to avoid them;
sometimes stopping to let one pass ahead
of us, at another time turning complete
ly around and running back on our
course. Luckily we were never seen or
chased Night came on, and had hoped
that we should have made rapid progress
till daybreak, unmolested, when suddenly.
to our horror, we found steamer close
alongside of us. How she had got there,
without our knowledge, Is mystery to
me even now. However, there she was,
voice bawled out, 'Heave to in that
stea mer or I'll sink you! 1t looked as if
all was over but / determined to try a
ruse before giving the little craft UP. So
I answered Aye, aye, sir. we are
stopped
"The cruiser was about so yards from
us. We heard orders given to man and
arm the quarter boats, we saw the boats
lowered into the water, we sam them
coming, We heard the crews laughing ana
cheering at the prospect of their prize
the bowmen had just touched the sides
of our vessel with their boathoolks, when
I whispered down the tube int othe engine
room, .F'ui speed aheadv and away we
shot in the pitch darkness.
1T don't know what had happened,
whether the captain of the man-of-war
thought that his boats had taken possess
sionand thus did not try to stop us. or
whether he stopped to pick up his boats
in the rather nasty sea that was running
or Just what happened. Anyhow. not a
shot was fired, and In less than minute
the pitch darkness hid the cruiser from
our view. That was a great piece OF
luck. All the next day We passed in
lodging about, avoiding the cruisers as
best we could. but always approaching
our port and at sunset our position was
60 miles due east of the entrance to Will
mington river. off which place was cruis-
ing strong squadron OF blockading ships.
1--WE determined to run straight through
them, and to take our chance; SO, when
Il was quite dark, we started, steaming
at full speed. Every light was out, even
the mems pipes the masts were lowered
on the deck. and II ever vessel was In
visible the Venus was that night.
However, We had several more ex-
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18

1ONDON, April Especial Core
spondence. mot even the lords
s,-rF=1,s1 of the admiralty, one imagines,
tAsasS21 including the great Jacky''
Fisher, are taking a keener
interest in every detail Of the allies
blockade of Germany, and in tho
fatherlands attempted blockade of
thes< islands than would have been
taken by wonderful old British sea
dog of well over so, who, just before
he died, sitting in front of his homely
hearth a short while back, surrounded
by the trophies of a career as dramatic
as any novel, spun me the yarn, be-
tween puffs at a cigarette held in
long holder and occasional pulls at
glass OF hot teddy that stood at his
elbow of his own exciting career as
one of the most daring of the men who
successfully ran the blockade estab-
lished by the north over the seaports
of the south during the civil war in our
own country
This veritable ancient mariner"
Capt. Lionel Campbell Goldsmid, had
followed the sea ever since he was q
boy. and had adventured all over the
world He fought in the Crimea and
later Win anu, Stlll
was one of the two famous commanders
of sisters ships built on the Clyde for
the express purpose of running the
American blockade--the renowned
Venus" of which he was captain, and
the even more famous Dawn" which
had as her skipper the great Hobart
Pasha, whose name. of course, is
household word in connection with the
blockade history of the years 1S61-5.
tn Co hn rf
Pasha made many trips between the
Bermudas and Wilmington, carrying
sorely needed manufactured articles to
the people of the south, and returning
packed with bales of cotton to such an
extent that mouse hardly could hive
slowed itself away on board, and Meth
err was ever captured Hobart Pasha,
who was, Of course, son of the Earl
of Bucllinghamshire died as long ago
SIS in 1886, and it was only by accident
that ] learned through n mutual ac-
Quaintance who, as a novelist, has many
an odd customer on his visiting list, that
Captain Goldsmid. with mind as active
as ever apparently, in spite of his close
on four score years and ten, was liv-
ing out in digs at Bayswater, having
retired from the sea some 80 years
back. as jovial an old veteran as one
could find in this land Of grand old
men, and always ready for yarn about
his lively days in the merchant marine
and his daring deeds under many flags.
They are long agone, are those days
of the American blockade. Even among
our own countrymen of the present
generation, one fancies, the story of
how the north kept watch and ward
over the coast line of the south and
how daring privateers, most of them
British built, sought to evade II Is
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18

From the Manchester Guardian.
England Is the land OF bachelors, SO
there is plenty OF material for our
new army" without any of the mar
RED men. Indeed, we could safely ex-
empt not only the married, but the be-
trothed, and still raise an army of $780,
coo, assuming. as we surely may, that
only one man in two between the ages
of 20 and So is physically fit. One
works it out in this way: In England
and Wales alone there are 4,25G,090
men between the ages of 20 and 80 and
over 100000 of them are bachelors.
To give the round figures, between the
ages of 20 and 25 there are 1,275,000
bachelors to 2T5,000 married men; from
25 to 80 there are 100000 bachelors to
100000 married men (ha1f and half,
and from 80 to 35 there are $4,000
bachelors to 100000 married men.
This gives US our total of $3.50, 00a
bachelors of all recruitable ages In
England and Wales alone
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18

capital. Some of the suburban roads were
being electrified and among them those
of the Central Argentine Railway COM
pany. whose suburban lines the now car
rying something like 100000 passengers
a year.
The Western railway has constructed
two tube lines which take passengers
right into the heart of Buenos Aires. In
the beauty of their equipment these tubes
are superior to anything we have in New
York, and in efficiency they are fully
equal to any tube lines of the world. In
addition. tube has been made for freight
trains. This passes under the Avenida de
Mayo to the plaza of that NAME and then
goes under the Gale Divadavia and other
streets, covering the business parts Of
the city.
The railroad systems of the Argentine
not small in either their extent or
their business. One of the largest is
the Buenos Aires Southern. This con-
meets the capital with some of the best
lands of the Argentina, going south to
Bahia Blanca and covering a large part
of southern Argentina. 1t has branch
lines into Patagonia, and 1t will eventu-
ally connect with new railroads across
the Andes, opening up southern Chile to
Argentina. This road has a capitaliza-
ton of $245. 100000 and it's net income is
about Sl5000,0 900 year. 1t has paid per
cent on its common stock since 1900. The
Buenos Aires Southern has more than
$500 miles of track, and it carries some
thing like 100000 passengers a year
Much of the road is double tracked, and
1t has fine terminals here at the capital.
It's chief depot Is at the Plaza Constitu-
cion, from where $50 passenger trains so
in and out daily.
The passenger traffic of the Southern
railway Is an important revenue pro-
ducer. It is now carrying 5000, 600 or 1000
600 of live stock a year. About one-half
of all the cattle that go to the freezing
establishments come from the south. II
has also valuable summer resort traffic
Il has the chief line from Buenos Aires
to Mar del Plata, which is the ia shion-
able seaside city of Argentina, and is
about $50 miles away. During the season
there are afternoon express trains with
parlor cars only and three trains of Sleep
ing cars that run nightly. One has to en-
gage his sleeping accommodations some-
time in advance. The rates of travel are
high, as is everything connected with tina
town of Mar del Plata.
The Buenos Aires and Pacific railway
Is connected with the trunk line, which
crosses the Andes from ocean to ocean.
1t takes passengers from Buenos Aires
to Valparaiso, a distance of $50 miles.
The Chilean part of the road is short,
something Ike 700 miles of the trip across
the continent being on Argentine terri
tory The Buenos Aires and Pacific rail-
way has a total mileage of about 3400
miles, Aand it's capitalization is about $780,
0000 eco. The road is well managed Its
fares are high The distance from Val
paraiso to Buenos Aires is Just about
the same as from New York to Chicago
and my fare between the two places was
$65, or about three times as much as for
a similar journey in the United States.
Another important railway of Argen-
tina is the Central This has capitaliza-
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18

tremely close calls, and, as we got nearer
to the harbor entrance, could make out
the outline of vessel lying at anchor,
head to wind, and conjectured that this
must be the senior officers vessel, which,
we were told, generally lay about two
miles and a half from the rivers mouth,
and which was obliged to show some sort
of a light to the cruisers that We're con-
stantly under weigh right and left of her.
Feeling pretty sure now of our position,
we went again at full speed and made out
clearly the line of blockaders lying to the
right and left of the ship which showed
the light, all excepting her being, appar-
emily, under weigh. Seeing an opening
between the vessel at anchor and the one
on her left, we made dash, and, thanks
to our disguise and great speed, got
through without being seen and made the
most of our way toward the land.
I'VE were now nearly out of danger
from cruisers, who seldom ventured
very close in shore in the vicinity
of tho batteries and our pilot, who
had been throughout the voyage in
bodily fear of an American prison,
began to wake up and told us that
he could make out, over the long line
of serf. heap of sand called tho
mound which was mark for going
into the river. This good news en-
boldened us to show a small light from
promptly answered by two lights be-
ing placed a short distance apart on
the beach in such position that when
the two were brought into line the
vessel would be in the channel which
led into the river. This being done,
without interruption from the cruisers
we steamed in and anchored safely I'M
der the batteries of Fort Fisher. Be-
ing now perfectly safe. lights were at
once lit, supper and grog served out
ad lib, everybody slapped everybody
else on the back and feeling of COM
fort and jollity such as can only be
experienced after three nights and
three days If intense anxiety, pos
sessed us ALL"
Arrived at the quayside. next morn
ing, the captain continued, they were
received with something like ecstacy
not to mention being visited by hum
cry and thirsty southerners of all
ranks and denominations, many of
whom had not tasted alcohol in any
form for months, and to whom what
ever they liked to eat or drink was
freely given. En- PEASANT. the old sea
dog dwelt on the huge profits that
were to be made in those days. even
by private speculations on the part Of
the officers and men of blockade run
ners,s instancing as one of the most
amusing deals of that time one carried
out by the famous Hobart Pasha.
"One day not long before he first left
England said Captain Goldsmid.
"'Captain Roberts. as he called him.
self, met southern woman who, when
asked what was most needed by her
compatriots in the blockaded states.
replied. curtly. 'Corsages. sir..I reck-
on. Hobart Pasha accordingly invest
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18

he is alone he can have the upper berth
put up and have a good lying down place
in the daytime, and at the same time he
has the seclusion of a room to himself.
On some of the trains there is a sleeping
car reserved for the ladies, and on all
the cars there are special compartments
for smoking.
As to baggage, the trains usually carry
10 pounds free on each ticket, all addi-
tional weight being enlarged for at high
prices. 1 usually carry several trunks
with me, and my extra baggage has at
times cost almost as much as my ticket.
There are express companies by which
one can forward his baggage, and have
it taken from his hotel at the starting
point to that at the landing point for a
fixed sum. There are excursion tickets
and season tickets on many of the roads.
The one great objection to certain trains
is the lack of heating apparatus during
the long winter journeys, when the Their
mometer falls and the high winds In
crease the cold.
The two chief sources of Argentine traf-
fic are live stock and grain. AT almost
any time of the year you may see long
trains of cattle and sheep moving in car
avans, as it were. across the country. The
cattle cars are better than ours. They
open at the ends instead of at the sides,
and are made that the whole train
can be made into one street of ears, so
that the cattle can be driven in single
file from one end of it to the other. This
IaI loo ctA TO a In, y,
shorter time than with us. The cattle
are started in at one end As soon as
the first car is filed the platform be-
tween it and the second car is raised and
the second is filed, then the platform at
the end of that is raised, and so on. The
unloading of the cattle is equally SIM
pie
1t was at the station of General Cam
pos in Entire Rios the other day that I
saw them loading some thousands of
sheep. The cars were double deckers, as
long as our longest cattle cars. They were
Joined end to end, with platforms be-
tween them so arranged that when q
drove started in at one end of the car
it rapidly passed through to the other
end, each car being shut off as it was
filled The loading was one continuous
process, 1900 sheep being put into the
cars in a very few minutes. The lower
decks of the trains were loaded first;
after that those above.
AS to grain, it is usually carried In
bags, and a great deal Of it goes in open
freight cars, covered with tarpaulins to
keep off the rain. The grain is piled up
in bags at the stations, and at harvest
times there are great stacks of bags so
corded up at every depot
One of the big items of grain export is
liz getting the goods to the railroads. The
most of it is carried upon bullock carts,
hauled by from 16 to "a or more animals.
The average wagon freight rate for COM
paratively short distances is ~ cents per
nile per handredweight, so that il a
mans farm is 10 miles from a station. it
costs him Is cents per hundredweight to
get his grain there. or something like 9
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18

Today the railway traffic is small In
proportion to the area. Nevertheless
the freight carried last year was over
100000 tons, and the railway pas
sengers numbered more than 10000.
600 The most of the freight was
made up of food products, carried from
the farms to the railroads in wagons.
1t included about 300000,0O0 bushels OF
corn, something like 2j0,000,00 bushels
of wheat and tens of thousands of cat
tie The factory products were small
and the merchandise shipped from city
TO city did not compare with that %
tho United tSates although the Argeh-
tines are man for man among the great
spenders of the world.
The trouble is that most of their peo-
pie live in the cities and that one-fifth
of the whole population Resides at
Buenos Aires. The money is made III
the camp and on the farms and 1t is
spent at the capital The result is that
this city is the Paris, the London, the
New York and the Washington of Ar
gentina. and it is the great railroad
center to which everything contributes.
The density of the traffic may be
known by the fact that more than 5Go
passenger trains go out of the city eV-
CRY day.
The most of the railways of Argentina
belong to the British. They have some
thing like one hundred millions of good
hard gold dollars invested in such proper
ties, and their roads are paying divi-
bends of per cent and upward a year
Many OF them We're built upon d guaran-
tee from the government of I per cent,
and they have been given many other
favors in concessions and in the remis-
cir Of A &c. oil asl,rt.,
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18
1913. by Frank q. Car
penter1

BuenoS AIRES,
~1HE Argentine railways have
beeen badly struck by the
fsFS55sSs war. The people are econo-
lA6&J MIXING in every possible
way. There is a decrease in
the sales of season tickets. family tick
cts and also in freight During
the three months following the
advance of Germany into Belgium tho
receipts of the Central Argentine COM
pany fell Off more than $1,000, 900.
those of the Buenos Aires and South
ern railway $1,000 900 and those of tho
Buenos Aires and Pacific about tho
same. The ordinary freight volume
has shrunk and all of the railways
rhow large decreases in traffic.
1t will seem strange to many of you,
who look upon the Argentine as a wild
picture land with scattering grain
fields, that the railways should be a
big factor in its prosperity. The fact
IS this country is fast becoming one Of
big businesses and 1t takes thousands
of miles of railways TO carry its traf-
ific. Argentina has new almost one
thfrtfeth of the railway tracks of the
world. Its mileage Is equal to one
tenth that of all Europe, and more
than all the railways of Africa TAX
ing out the India roads and the trans
siberian system II is about equal to
that of all Asia, and 1t is 40 per cent
of that of South America. Brazil is
three times as big as Argentina, but ii
has only two thirds as much track and
Of n n
try, with its longitudinal system, has q
railway mileage of only a little more
than 1000 miles. The railways of Ar
entina are now more than 10000
miles and If Joined end to end would
20 seven times across the United
States from ocean to ocean. Laid upon
the spider-web of iron tracks that
cover Great Britain they would, with
few exceptions, cover every line In
that network, and multiplied by 10
would equal the total railway tracks
Of all Europe, and by Il would sur
pass the mileage of the United States,
which is by far the greatest railway
country of the world.
Notwithstanding this the Argentine
railways are on the edge of their be-
ginning. They are mainly long trunk
lines running from one end of the
country to the other. The towns are
lar apart anu one may rue 1Of miles
without seeing a house. a large part
of the country is pasture lands. which
will some day he cut up into small
farms and intensively cultivated. At
present the holdings are enormous.
There are wheat farms OF tens of thou
sands of acres and alfalfa tracts as big
as a township Of Ohio or Indiana. The
population numbers somewhere be-
tween eight and nine millions Inten-
sively farmed the country would SUP
port several hundred millions and 1t
might feed the United States and Eu-
rope. In the far future it viii be cut
Up into garden patches and gridironed
with tracks like the prairie lands OF
the United States.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18
Disappearance of Papyrus Plant

Toul the LOuuOH SHTOiilCics
One OF the modern mysteries Of Egypt
is the disappearance of the papyrus plant
that once fringed the lower Nile. ana
made a desirable haunt for water fowl
A botanist. just home from Cairo. de-
clares that in all lower Egypt the only
papyri now growing in natural state
are in the Esbelkieh Gardens fountain at
Cairo, the botanical gardens and at the
Barrage. Perhaps Isaiah may have
thrown the evil eye on the plant, FOR
among his prophecies lie. the destruction OF
the paper reeds by the brooks" II We
did not have ancient illustrations to guide
W It would be impossible from the
present scanty remains to reconstruct
the amazing fields Of papyrI that indi-
rectly helped to civilizs w.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18
ARGENTINE RAILWAYS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT

tobacco. groceries and clothes. 1t has
storekeeper. furnished by the rail-
way, and its goods were sold at reason
able rates. Among the chief articles
Of consumption was the native wine,
without which the men will not work.
This was sold at a few cents bottle.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18

)NDON, April Especial Core
spondence, mot even the lords
of the admiralty, one imagines,
including the great 'Jaclsy'
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18

DhtiiQS AL 80
HE Argentine railways have
beeen badly struck by the
war The people are eccno-
MIXING in every possible
way 1,hara is a decraase IN
The Detroit times., 1915-11-30

how 10 become a stage celebrity
The three Adnards. two OF whom
are handsome misses oner some
songs, dances and -C0medy t5oth or
the girls have good voices, while
the male member OF the trio is an
excellent dancer Jane Barber ana
jerome jackson have an act OF Mutt
and Ieff proportions. Miss Barber )
head reaches almost up to her part
ner's elbows They sing. dance and
make merry Minnie Victorson and
Edgar Forrest are seen in "Outwit-
ted sketch of the heavy va
riety. Strong emotional acting. eX-
Cellent stage settings and novel
plot make the sketch one of high
class
The Wartenberg brothers are a
pair OF clever iugglers and musi-
clans. They play stringed instru-
ments while juggling globes with
their feet, and perform other mar
veluus fcats. The Hearst-Selig
news pictures and other motion pie
uure offerings complete the bill.