davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25

stored, the United States will be found to have made tremendous progress as prime factor in the worlds markets. While other nations are retrograding and exhausting themselves in the wasteful tragedy abroad, the United States has forged ahead and won a position of the very first importance, which under new competitive condi- tions after the war 1t will have to struggle to retain, but which it is not likely to lose.
 Thus far. the rise in stocks, other than the war group, has been fully warranted by general conditions. and particularly by the great abundance of loanable funds. Inflationary influences have been quietly at work and have not yet apparently exhausted them selves At times reactionary tenden- cies appeared and the market Is show ing wider and more frequent fluctu- ations It Is not likely that the ad- vance movement as whole has reached it's end, but profit taking and the liberal discounting of many condi- tions tended to temporarily unsettle the market. In the absence, however of any important unfavorable develop ments good stocks are likely to prove A purchase on all pronounced reac- lions. The war Is still powerful factor in the situation and the end not yet in sight
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
Germany Attempts to Explain

Dr. Alfred F. M. Zimmerman, Ger man under secretary for foreign af- fairs, in statement issued yesterday, attempts to justify the execution by Germans in Belgium of Miss Cavell, an English trained nurse, accused of aiding Belgian and English soldiers to escape. In his statement Dr. Zimmer- man unconsciously reiterates the Ger man system of terrorization which has been adopted in Belgium. The same spirit which dictated the execution of Miss Cavell directed the destruction of Louvain, the lombard ment of Rheims and the using of women and priests as screens from firing. To many people the execution of this woman will remove that doubt which might have existed that Ger many was guilty of outrages against the Belgian noncombatant popula- | tion.
 Germany has added another blot to her already stained escutcheon and all the spacious arguments will not ex- plain away the fact that a woman was executed despite the protests of the United States minister and the Span- ish minister.
 In the tower of London today are six women. They have been convicted of espionage. But they will not be taken out to face firing squad. Civ ilization has not reached that height yet-in England. The women are un- der sentence of penal servitude of from five to fifteen years.
 English methods, slow and bungle- some as they sometimes are, as com- pared with those of the highly or ganized, super-efficient Germans,
 seem, to a dispassionate observer, in this instance, at least, to be highly preferable!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
CURFEw

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
 Ohio moving picture exhibitors. recently in session in Cleveland, adopted 9 policy which will meet general approval. A "curfew" regulation is to be put in force, and children, unaccompanied by adults are to be sent homo at o'clock.
 The motion picture 10 not primarily . ohildren's entertainment. It has come to be the most popular amusement of American men and women. Yet there are many children, seemingly not under proper home regulation, who are con- stant patrons of the 6-cent theatres. They come early and stay late, utterly regard less of tho Aims exhibited Many regu- latpry laws have been adopted fof the purpose of protecting the children. Ths truth is that the regulation is misapplied. Tho children rather than the pictures need attention.
 New York has law forbidding attend ance of unattached infants at the picture shows. The Ohio exhibitors have deter mined to make law for themselves. The g o'clock expulsion order may be the beginning of general effort to limit and regulate juvenile patronage.
 Boys and girls who sit for hours in picture shows and sse the performance from beginning to end two or three times arc suffering positive injury, no matter how innocuous the films may be. More over, many films entirely harmless for grown-up patrons are not good mental fodder for the very young. Any scheme which makes for regulation along these lines is commendable.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25

Paul Mauser, who died recently, was the German inventor of the Mauser rifle and many other weapons and devices of war. He was born at Obendorf, Wur- temburg, in 1888 He was educated there and was employed, with his brother, Will Ham, in the local arsenal factory. The two brothers collaborated in a number of inventions, but it was Paul Mauser who invented the Mauser revolver in 1879, and is credited with having been the more gifted of the two brothers. In 1882 he and William Mauser succeeded in hav- ing an improved rifle known as "Mauser, 1sSa'' adopted by the Servian government
 His fame rests chiefly, however, on his Meuser magazine rifle and a magazine re- volver The weapon had low trajectory and the projectile which it fired had great penetratlve power. The Mauser rifle was used by the German, Belgian Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish armies It was also the weapon of the United States army in the Spanish-American war. being considered superior to the Springfield AS, with which the volunteers at that time were armed. The Boers made effective use of the Mauser ir their war with Great Britain. In 1s9I Paul Mauser was elected a member of the German Reichstag.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
The New Stage Art

In recent address before the Wig and Cues club of Barnard college on Dramatic Conventions" Prof. Bran- der Matthews of Columbia said the darama does not really need scenery. It is merely stage convention, "just As sculptors cause a tree trunk to grow up into the middle of horse to support it." Illustrating his point fur ther, Professor Matthews told how in Japanese tragedy each performer has a supposedly invisible attendant, clad in black, who hands fan, lifts a cloak and performs other slight serv- ices and is no longer conspicuous by the time the middle of the play is reached. The Mexicans, it seems, al- ways have the devil dressed in the uni- form of United States cavalry off cer, which may be something for the pacifists to ponder over.
 These "stage conventions" as well as the more elaborate "scenic investi- ture" which characterize the lavish productions of American theatrical firms, might conceivably be dispensed with. The popularity attained by open air performances in various parts of the country, which antedate somewhat the attempt to introduce the so-called thew stage art" and successful per formances given without costumes and without scenery, show that the drama is not dependent on these accessories. In fact, it never was so dependent, since the drama had acquired form and stability long before the remark ably accurate stage settings of today were ever dreamed of.
 However, the "new art" will never be able to discount the imaginative ef- feet of good scenery, bringing before the spectator, with rare fidelity and completeness, the locality in which the play is laid. A few curtains draped about the stage for background may enable the playgoer to concentrate his attention on the actors and the lines they speak, but unless his imagination is exceptionally vivid, he will miss much of the plays true atmosphere, for plays are not like novels, where scenes are created in the mind by the authors powers of description. This is impossible in the limited confines of the drama. To "dress play"--in good taste-is an admirable thing and . great help in creating a realistic impression.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
Latest German Outrage

Had any further proof that the greater part of the charges against the Germans of horrible atrocities committed on helpless Belgium been needed, the cold blooded execution of an English trained nurse last week would have removed all doubt. It is a further exemplification of the German idea of civilization beside which the Russians in their outrages on the Jews will not blush.
 The Cavell case is unparalleled in the history of modern warfare. It re- mained for the highly cultured Ger mans to show the world what really enlightened Teuton could do. Is it to be wondered that French, Belgian and English are spilling their blood like water that this species of culture, this civilization may not be rammed down their throats at the point of bayo- net? Is it to be wondered that the heart of the world goes out to them in sympathy?
 England has been the special tar get of German venom since the be- ginning of the war because the Brit aims had a conception of honor above Teutonic grasp and because Britain re- fused to regard her solemn pledges as
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
FINDING TOM IODINE

From Golfers Weekly.
 l A fashion in journalism which seems to be going out in some localities decreed
 that every newspaper should have a col
 umn of side lights on tho odds and ends
 of news. the paragraphs of Elia-like mus
 ings brief notes on queer sights about town. These columns are often just the right word to take the curse off the ar
 ray of woe and catastrophe contained in 1 the rest of the paper. That is why we are glad to see the Paris (NIo) Mercury still keeping up Tom Bodine's Scrap Bag"
 I Toms piece on Miss Salie Flood the other day is typical of his strain. Miss Sallie was an old maid schoolma' am who taught in the public schools of Columbia, Mo, for 20 years. When she died, former pupils got together a fund to erect monument over her grave. Just to give a taste of Toms quality. here's how he l leads off:
 "Back in most of our lives somewhere
 abides a Miss sallie, and ever and
 anon. when we begin to look at things crookedwise and our steering gear goes 1 wrong, memory reforms her picture, and IStrdlBntWay tnlnSS clear up ana we take l to the straight road again-just because she expected good of us and told us so. She is typical. and stands at the very center of the American public school sys- | tenn, illumining life radiating love, giving hope, zest, inspiration. What was taught us from books was trifling compared to the faith and courage Miss Sallie i'm | parted from the abundance that was al- ways hers. We haven't found life to be | just as Miss Sallie pictured it when she told us her heart would follow us to the end and her expectations never dim; the closer view has revealed ugly places | that Miss Sallie. looking over her nose glasses, and from a sheltered seclusion,
 necessarily could not see; but neverthe- 1 less, we have tried to make it what Miss Sallie thought it was, and have tried | to be what she wanted us to behave
 Hailed, of course, but have come a little
 nearer for all that to the mark and goal
 of high calling"
 l When fame hunts Tom Bodine out we hope he will tell 1t to chase itself. Stick | to Paris and the old Paris fashions, and
 let city papers and metropolitan jobs go
 hang.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
A SORDID MURDER CASE

From the Louisville Courier-J Journal. IKE the young man from the coun- try who became the lover of Fanny - Le Grande in Daudet's "Sappho.
 Porter Charlton became enamored of a
 woman who was no longer young and
 whose past had been eventful.
 The murderer's narrative of the cat and-dog life the pair led is so true to the logic of the situation that there is no reason for doubting 1t. They quar- reled causelessly, and Mrs. Charlton made outrageous charges Tn outrageous language. More of her temperament was revealed in these domestic scenes than could have been told by her, or by any one else. by the simple narration of the events of her career-a marriage, df- vorce, period on the stage, a shooting affray and so forth-which preceded her
 marriage at the age of 40 to a callow, spoiled, dissipated, foolish boy of 20. A brutal murder was the not unnatural outcome of the relationship of such a couple. It did not come to that in the Daudet story, although Fanny was a woman whose career had been more
 eventful than that of Mrs. Charlton, and
 had begun and proceeded in far lower
 social plane. But in innumerable cases
 in real life such matings have ended in bloodshed
 Charltons story. told in Italian, which
 he has acquired since his imprisonment
 began in Italy. contains not the slight
 esr excuse for the murder save that 1le
 Saw red'' during the progress of the
 typical brawl that had been the con-
 spicuous characteristic of the honey
 moon. with its disquieting disclosures of
 the brides past and it's more disturbing
 revealment of the brides temper. If
 Mrs. Charlton's side of the case could
 be heard it would be story of misplaced
 affection, misplaced confidence. sus-
 picion, violent abuse. It is easy enough
 to read between the lines of the defen-
 dant's testimony how he brooded upon
 what his bride told him of her past. how
 he magnified everything from the tragi- comic circumstance of her having fooled
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25

THH COMPANY 0D xEW DEAD Thomas Hardy in Saturday Qendsn) As> view. Tt is not asath thas hsssews ~s.~ sAsg
 Tipped,
 "The soundlsss ca1 h in itssl8 z@lie& For life is an unfenced dower benumb66 At unawarss and st best but Azsser The speakers. rundry phantoms of ms~
 gone,
 Had risen like nlmy namss in sheds,
 phor dye, As if the palsst of sheet lightninsA From n'tS the sward near me. as -sson .
 neither sky. And much surprissd was that. sDspA
 and dead, L' They should not. like the mann se
 at rest. But stray as apparitions; hencs I said. why, having slipped life. hark SUu
 back distressed?" we are among the few death sets not The hurt. misrepresented namss. who
 come At each years brink. and cry to history To do them justice. or 60 past them
 dumb. We are stripped of rights: our names
 lie unredressed,
 Our deeds in full anatomy are not shown, Our words in morssls merely are ex- pressed
 On the soriptural page. our motives unknown, Then all these shaken ill-writ visitants Into the vague. and left mo musing. On flames that well might instance what they said Until the New Years dawn strode up'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25

him by a dozen and a half years as to her age to the actual cause of her at tempt to shoot man who, she said, had tried to wrong her; how he rewarded her confidence by accusing her of more than she confessed, and of more, no doubt than she had been guilty. The pickering and the tantrums were not all upon one side The climax-the enraged husband picked up mallet and beating out the brains of the bride who had dressed to go out, and taunted him with the suggestion that he was not the only man alive-does not suggest the moral su- periority of the bridegroom. It leaves no impression that he more than his wife was the victim of frequent and vio- lent abuse, of profanity and false and disgusting accusation. Upon the contrary, it suggests that of the two natures his was the weaker and the worse
 Upon his own testimony he should be punished for the crime. But the spirit of the mob is somewhat more potent factor in influencing results in Italian murder trials than in similar cases in America. The presiding judge may con slider, among other things, the period of imprisonment that has preceded the trial, as constituting punishment. The press is extremely yellow The popuace likes to heroize a criminal.
 The crime was committed several years ago In Italy little is known of Mrs. Charlton save what the defendant tells in an effort to exculpate himself. That he will be acquitted, or punished by a very short term in prison in addition to that which in the view of the Italian courts he already has served, is predicted in Como, and the prophecy seems safe. Nevertheless the sordidness of the murder as 1t was at first reported is not lessened by Charltons testimony.
 That modishy gowned Italian women arc attending the trial hanging upon every word of the defendant; that he is the recipient of flowers. dainties, scented notes. Is not surprising, although it is. as sidelight upon woman nature, rather depressing.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25

"scraps of paper" Even if all this were true England has not stained her hands with the blood of helpless women, noncombtatants and children.
 In the tower in London today Eng land holds six women. They have been convicted of espionage. But they will not be taken out to face a firing squad. Civilization has not scaled that point yet-in England. The women are under sentence of penal servitude ranging from to 15 years.
 English methods, slow and bungle- some as they sometimes are, as con- pared with those of the highly organ ized super-efficient Germans, seem to dispassionate observer, much to be preferred.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25

lofty devotion. His differences with the dc minant powers, which threaten to lead to his expulsion, have called forth wide spread popular sympathy. The average person who knows nothing about the srbtleties of theology feels that there ought not be any antagonism between re- ligion and the fullest intellectual freedom. There was time when no man in the church was safe from suspicion and denunciation. Time and advancing knowledge have carried the world forward to a happier era. Dogma, itself, has shown 8 continuous growth, and there ap- pears to be no good reason why 1t should not grow some more.
 Birmingham is deeply stirred both in church and secular circles over the treat ment meted to one of her best beloved citizens and teachers.
 Pope voiced the well-nigh universal sen. timent from a secular viewpoint:
 For modes of faith let gracsless zealots
 fight;
 His can't be wrong whose life is in the right"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
TRIAL OF DIR. EDMONDS

From the Selma Times
 HE arraignment and trial of Dr.
 Henry M. Edmonds, pastor of the
 A South Highlands Presbyterian church. Birmingham, by the presbytery, for promulgating unorthodox teachings reads like leaf from the history of the middle ages. The doctor is convicted of holding views pertaining to the atonement at variance with the standards of the church. which is tantapount to his dis missal from the pulpit.
 The trial is disenchanting spectacle and in no way creditable to it's foment- CTS. It Is well known fact that the Presbyterian church allows various types or theology within its confines. It har- bors the conservatives who stand un- swervlngly by the Westminster congress sion. and also the liberals who base their faith on the shorter Presby terian creed The venerable history of the church shows a steady stream of tendency to- ward broader interpretation and policy. It is unfortunate that this fine spirit of tolerance did not permeate the delibera- ton of the inQuisition at Fayette.
 pr. Edmonds is man of pure life and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
uNTHEATR1cAL COMMANDERS

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
 Great generals in these crucial hours are not posing for the movies They are not animated portrait busts beplas- tered with medallions and ribbons to astolNd lay audiences Of civilians at long range. General Joffre, after 22 hours of abstinence from sleep or rood, as he fol- lows over the telephone the varying for tunes of battle calmly says to his staff, 'It is over Let us go take a bite. '' The o-worshipping biographer might fill the mouth of his god-like effigy with resounding epic sentiment such as a Central American revolutionist would de. claim from a balcony in a triumphal hour; but strategy, not rhetoric. is the field marshal in this war.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
A CONSCIENTIOUS DIVE KEEPER

From the St Louis Post-Dispatch Of bad men in. general it may be truth
 fully said that no bad man is worse than you think he is. He may be better than you give him credit for. A dive keeper is about the worst man you can conceive of-worse than a burglar, mur- derer and every other sort of criminal put together. because he is a corrupter. Ia manufacturer of all-around bad char acter. Who would suspect him of hay ing "conscience?" A New Orleans dive keeper, who bobs up in the news, protests
 that he hasn't been saved or converted or reformed or any of that preacher
 bunk and he Is evidently ashamed of exhibiting even conscience The latter pains him. like the spartan's fox gnawing his vitals underneath his robe, but, un-
 like the Spartan, he cannot conceal it.
 However. he had seen many young fel-
 lows ruined in his place and finally he
 came to this conclusion, which he chalked on the bar: "It takes a mother 20 years to make a man of her son. It takes another woman 20 minutes to make a fool of the same lad" With that con- clusion he bluntly quilted the business and the reporters forced from him this expla nation:
 Last night I saw a timid, pink-faced boy come into my place at 10 o'clock heard him talking It was all schoolboy stuff at first, football and this class
 and the other. At midnight observed him. and he had undergone a complete change. He was a drunken young beast,
 and 1t was all through the wiles of a painted woman whom paid $25 week and commission on drinks to bring about just such changes.
 That's just one of hundreds of cases.
 But it came home to me, because I have
 son of my own. just such a fellow as the
 lad who left the Green Tree last night | reeling on the arm of Maud, or Myrtle or whatever her name was. If any man did that to my son I'd kill him.
 I'm through with the lights of the ten- derloln'
 Things have to be brought homo to most
 of us This divekeeper raises the sup-
 position that all divekeepers may have
 consciences, or companion, or kindness
 concealed about their person-if only their
 attention is called to it. That is true of
 nearly everybody. we believe.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
CORROBORATED
From Tit-Bits.

From Tft-BltS.
 ''Tell me noo, Jamie, what was the most wonderful thing you saw when at sea?''
 T think the strangest thing ever saw was the flying fish,"
 Moo, ladie, dinna mak, a fule O yer mither. Wha ever heard O fish fieein' ?''
 Another strange thing I saw when crossing the Red sea. We dropped anchor and when we raised 1t again there was one of the wheels of Pharaoh's chariot en- tangled on it."
 Aye. laddie, believe that. We've scripture for that"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
WHO IS WOMAN
From the New Republic.


 Who. after all, is woman? Is one thinking of Jane Addams or Cleopatra. Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth. Madame Curie or Gree? Phoebe Snow is one sort of girl, the Ealamander an- other. Pavlowa is one sort of dancer. Little Egypt another Marie-Odile is one sort of heroine. the Outcast another. When the blatant congressman talks of lovely woman to whom does he refer? On what difference" is he dwelling? At the back of such minds, undoubtedly, there Is the woman, the woman of adolescent sex idealfsm. But such creature is no more conceivable washing dishes than she is conceivable discussing politics. She is . moonshine girl. and no able-bodied creature of feminine gender would seek te resemble her who could sec eye to eye with a completely candid man.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25

Birmingham regrets to lose the Grayce Scott players, but in city where the a stock company can not compete profit ably with the larger travelling organiza- tions which offer the latest dramatic suc- cesses
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
WORKING UP TO IT

From Life.
 What's the matter, Adolphus? Why you look nervous and you can't keer still?"
 You notice 1t, do you? Fine! Fine! I'm smoking 100 cigarettes day, drink ing about 20 cups of strong coffee. not to mention all the other things.
 But whats the idea?"
 Don't interrupt me, old fellow. Tn just on the verge of inventing new dance"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-25
WHICH MAY BE THE TREASON
om the Houston Post,

From the Houston Post.
 While not exactly or the submerged tenth" Jess Willard is making less noise than any other heavyweight champion who ever lived-B Birmingham Age-Herald.
 The public is less interested in Jess than it has been in any othsr champion that ever lived