davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

the goats out She informed me that henseforth and forever and few laps ovver that I could get my dansing lessuns at home to the strains of SIP Victroller. Presumably she sed, that she against imported brands of dansing and that could make up my mind to get along with the home pro duct So fingered that had won victory and that the dansing thing would be to the discard but that's wheere l ded rong, beleeve me.
 I anu still going out regulerly to danses, he sed with sigh. l have walked high prise cal co in the last yeer than evver before in my life l ought to get commission frum the high prsed dress mal1urs in this village he sed becawse ser tanly theere handy I like to attend danse Saturday mite, he sed they will have all the next week to repair theere dresses in.
 While theere is yet time. he sed to me, profit by my experience and desst. You will find that you will becum better desistur than danser, he sed Let the yung ones do the dansng, he sedan old tub like you has bizness wax floor; he is a mennase to the amusemint and adds nuthing to the scenery. l guess he's rite
 Yours trooly,
 BILL VINES. Washington D. c.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

snow lying there, smile at their com panions, as if they wanted sort of appreciation, or fellow feeling about it., but many children paid no more at tention to the snow than if it had not fallen, It made one, who has known the joy it can give to children in the open, feel a distinct depression at the realization of what city environment has done for these future New Workers and New Yorkerines
 Many of us know full we'll that snow iii many places furnishes that touch oe nature which makes the whole world kin but here it produces no such mellowing influence, but rather is 1t an irritant that gives all New York most unpleasant grouch
 Yet 1t is interesting. Costumes change always as if by magic. for these people. who have snows every winter must be prepared for them if possible, in every way. As soon as any depth has been acquired, snow blows are to be seen at tached to the front of surface cars, au- tomobile trucks and passenger cars, and many wagons appear on runners which had been running on wheels before. The jingle of bells is heard, but it is not a merry jingle such as would make you think of promising young couple sleighing into the state of matrimony through 2 white robed winter woodland. No, it is a very business-like jingle-one might almost call it a jangle-and it in- dicates merely that the law is being com piled with and arrest avoided Sometimes there is cow bell attached to horse. but 1t occasions no laughter-the poor owner probably had no other bell avail able.
 Pedestrians do not smile at each other, but frown at the snow-covered ground in front of them, and when one enters restaurant, store, cafe or some such place, the others therein have no com ments to offer. If he should dare make one himself. about the snow. he would in all likelihood be frowned upon and sf-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19
THE RAILWAYS OF BRAZIL

grant of some millions of acres toward the construction of new lines in south ern Brazil. and it has now under lease million acres of forests. six million acres of possible farms and more than eight million acres said to be excellent pasture.
 The Brazil Railway company is espe- cially interesting to the United States It works under an American charter and it's president is Mr. Percival arquhar of New York. The financial complications created by the war have thrown the com peny temporarily into the hands of re- ceivers, but it is believed that it will weather the storm and vet be one of the great railway systems of the hemisphere. It is now the largest system In Brazil and one of the largest lin South Amerlca. It consists of a consolidation Of number of older railroads of Brazil, together with many extensions that have been made since the company was incorporated in 1906. It's main track already covers parts of the rich states of Sac Paulo, Parana, Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sul. It holds also an interest in the Paulista railway, which goes through the central ptitiOl Ol tiit Stdlt Ol osto dulO, dUu tHo Mogyana railway, which operates there and in Minas Geraes having a length of more than a thousand miles. The com pany also owns the Madeira Mamore rail read in the wilds of the Upper Amazon, and it has projects to build lines into Matto Crosse and Paraguay. creating a vast system that will be of incalcuable value to the republic. The opening up of Paraguay will be accomplished by an extension of the present roads to the Igu- azu Falls, and a connection there with the Central railway of Paraguay that TOW ends at Asuncion. Other roads will be built into the great province of Matto Crosse, and all the rich states of south ern Brazil will be developed by it.
 Perhaps the most interesting of the properties associated with the Brazil Rail was company Is the Madeira and Mamore railway. This road is located far in the backwoods of Brazil. It is situated thou sands of miles up the Amazon, in the heart of wilderness that produces a large part of the rubber of the world. It. Is only 226 miles long, but it's location
 is such that it opens up thousands of miles of river navigation It goes aroupd the falls of the Madeira river, into which flow the three mighty streams known as the Mamore, Beni and the Madre de Dios. all of which originate on the ca stern slope of the Andes and are navigable for long distance sabove the falls.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

the mountains, where the cars were at- tached to the cables. We crossed a steep ascent over four planes of equal length, the gradients being of 8 or 10 per cent to the mie When we arrived at the mountains the locomotive was taken off and the cars hauled up by a rope con- sisting of six strands of steel wire wrapped about hemp cord. This rope was supported and guided by small wheels placed between the rails, and it was moved by engines at the several stations Behind our train was a spe- cial locomotive to prevent our speedy de- scent if the wire ropes should fail- and there were brakes, automatic and other wise, that gave us additional security. There were engine houses at the four stations and car house at the bottom. [. asked as to the maximum weight of the trains that were hauled up the in- cline and was told that it was about 145 tons. The usual train consists of six cars These weigh 114 tons and the locomotive brake weighs 31 tons. The time taken on the incline is eight min utes, and the ordinary days service pro- vides for about 5000 tons up and down. The road is now double tracked and there are plans for making new road along the same route.
 I venture there is no American trunk line that has better Improvements than the Sac Paulo railway, and none which has cost so much in such a short dis tance. The grade is so steep and the rainfall so heavy that the roadway has been lined with drains and gutters from bottom to top. The gutters are of brick, and they are beautifully constructed as those of a city park. The bricks are covered with tar to prevent the vege- tation from springing up between them. The concrete work is equal to that of the Panama canal. In places the streams, flowing down the mountains are carried under the track in pipes or in open work of concrete; and here and there long terraces of stone uphold the entertainments. The culverts are as well finished though they were in the streets of a city and there are abut- ments and waterspouts that look as though they were made by sculptor
 The terminals of the road are of the same nature. The station at Sac Paulo is one of the finest in South America The cars are finished like the Pulmans of the United States, and the engines are polished as though they were jewels.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

money enough to accomplish the ap- parently impossible.
 The Eden Musee. which went bank rupt last June, has been sold out at auction. Napoleon, Caesar and Roose- welt sold in one lot for $240 Think of it. Of course, that may be good price for the two first named, but think However, no doubt he sold for $235 and the others for $2.50 each.
 The Chamber of Horrors sold in small pieces, General Funston Enter ing Vera Cruz" for instance, going for $40. while the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, brought $105. The failure of the Eden Musee has been attributed in part to the popularity of the movies which have to bear the blame for so many similar failures.
 In spite of all the praises I've sung of old Broadway, which is north and south street-almost--the Saftey First society has just met and decided that our north and south streets are by no means numerous enough. They are 60t feet apart, as a rule, while the cross town streets are only 200 feet apart The society went on to say that the people here have built city upon tor of a city, and, yet expect the same north and south thoroughfares to take care of the traffic. The result arrived at was--it can't be done. And the next thing you know we'll be cut ting straight through lot of our big buildings and opening new streets, pro vided we don't go to war in the mean time and forget about it.
 You of Sunland are going to have ar opportunity to see "Chin-Chin" before long, as it concludes its record run here only to go on tour. This Mont gomery and Stone vehicle has been one of New Yorks most remarkable the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

In the past the cargoes have been car- ried over the falls in large boats manned by crews of To men each, but the waters are so rough that many lives and much freight have been annually lost The railway will carry passengers and freight around the falls and will thus give a new outlet from the Andes to the Allan tic. This will benefit not only Bolivia. but Matto Crosse as we'll The boats will go from the falls down the Madeira river into the Amazon, and thence 8 thousand mics down the Amazon out to the sea-
 This road is now completed, and it's earnings in 1913 were more than S4. 700 o0O. although it, like the parent road is in the hands of a receiver today The Bra- gil Railway company has erected hospitals in connection with the construction. and tt ey have had 0 large number of Amer ioan doctors in attendance.
 At the beginning of the work about 60 per cent of the laborers were taken down with fever. but toward the end the aver age sickness was reduced to less than ' per cent, and a new regime of tropical sanitation was inaugurated.
 The government is anxious to extend the road from it's southern terminus to Lib eralta the Ben river. and thus open traue route or great importance to Bolivia. The latter republic has au- tborized the building of railway from its capital at La Paz to some point on the Beni. and the two roads will give an eastern outlet for the trade of the high plateau of the Andes.
 Bolivia has other plans for the build ing of railroads through it's eastern ter ritory, which In union with those of Bra zi will result in opening up the vast undeveloped and to large extent unex- plored country that borders the Andes from Argentina to Colombia.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

El2E432) with that by no means rare
 brand? No. Thank you, that permits further development of this sub ject of alleged purity and locally desig- mated pusilanimosity.
 Snow, one would suppose, is made up of the same ingredients, no matter from what section of the sky it descends, nor upon what part of any country it falls, but after it has landed upon Manhattan Isic, yea. even as it hovers over and is falling toward this multi-milloned me- tropolis, it becomes different from snow n any other section or city insofar as the opinion of the Gothamites is concerned
 It Is not difficult to remember the snews in Dixie They are rare enough to make them interesting, sometimes even thrilling, and, to many people. al- ways exhilirating. snow said some body, sometime, lis like pIay-rain is like work and in Sunland that is very good idea of the impression it makes. but in New York, well. rain may be like work but snow is like the. meanest drudgery. M
 When it snows in the south, if memory has not already begun to play unfair tricks upon me. there is laughter. there are pleasant remarks and jests about it., there are lronlcai slsns bearing Sucn word as "the sunny south." and there is sport everywhere. Municipalities in that section do not worry particularly over the cost of cleaning it away. and, with the exception of the rare individ- ual, the pessimist who sees only the slush that comes with the melting period, every one seems to enjoy the beautiful" thor oIghly.
 f5 in Manhattan, however, the first flakes fall like bullets from a powerful enemy s guns. Every one seems filled with dread, displeasure and annoyance. The poor look forward to greater hardships. the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

wealthy foresee annoyances, and the mid 6le classes scent all sorts of irritating delays, inconveniences and discomforts.
 Yes there is generally some reason for the selection of subject of this character. In this case the thing it. self has recently happened We have had snow of the stormy, galy, hur- ricany, blustery, sticky, deep and nasty variety. All horizontal surfaces of the island have been hidden under eight inches of it this week. And if anything could take the wonderful pep out of New York city it would be snow, but even that cannot quite accomplish that superintendent task.
 The moment the feathery substance begins to display tendency to finger upon the island, there is every evidence of increased energy among those whose duty it is to keep Manhattan clear of the stuff. Gmagine calling snow "stuff"-but that is what one comes to in this city).
 To begin with, it must of necessity be taken seriously here on account of the fact that it costs money to clear it away, and would probably cost more if it were not cleared away before the nature processes accomplished that labor. During our last snow, l4,OO0 men were set to work at once and a call went out for 25,000 more, to assist in the work. These were general clean CTS, and in addition to them were the many who were working at the pave ments lying along their own street frontage, fearing arrest if they de- layed too long the cleaning up pro- cess.
 Not even a child, so far as I saw, e new sparkle in the eyes of some chill dren, as if they felt vaguely that snow should give them pleasure if they only knew how to take advantage of It. but they didn't seem to possess that knowledge Some of the little fellows step to the edge of the sidewalk. kick their little feet into the banked-up
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19
Whale Battles Ship

TTOIh the NeW fOIK W orId.
 Seattle.--Showing the effects of . desperate battle with a huge sperm whale while 10 miles south of Mount Edgecumbe, kruzof Island, near the entrance of Sitka Sound. on June 15. the whaling steamer Star III, Capt. L.. P. Halls, Gunner G. Earling, reached Eagle harbor after successful sea- son.
 While taking one of the big mann mals, which members of the crew described as just like an ocean liner,' the big fellow charged the steamer. dama ging the gunwale, second towing chock to the starboard side and bend ing and crumpling plate in the bull warks for distance of 10 feet. Tho weight of the whale nearly swamped the little steamer.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

some pleasure out of the snow, vet they are wrapped to the chin and seem to be suffering from the cold merely in order to show to the poorer people that they are able to have everything they want and much that they do not in the least de- sire.
 Delays, stalled horses and motor cars are frequent, but these things would oc- cur anywhere else, so they are not pe- culiar to New York snows Only the subway rumbles along unhindered, and even that sometimes gets water in 1t and trouble and short-circuits result.
 As a result of this weeks snows the list of dead and injured is comparatively small, but none may know the hardships they have brought to many whose woes the world will never be informed of. As stated last week, there's a fiat" chance for any kind of rhymester to versfy on beautiful snow if he sees it from a New York angle.
 There's a new party on Broadway, and about town these days. One name given him is the war -baby-spender.' He is the man who has accumulated a bunch of money on war stocks and is willing to let it go as easily as it came. He is spending with d lavish hand and as result of his numerous ness, prices have been ascending in restaurants and hotels and portions of food do not seem to be what they once were
 This party Is more or less unaccus- toned to big money but has taken a fiier or two and has been able to "get away with it. His tips are generous and his dinners are large. He always has lady along and is willing to slip any head waiter $10 to get a table. when all the tables are filled. And by the way that is another local mystery: it is always possible to get table after all tables are filled, provided Nou are willing to hand the head waiter
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

By FRANK G. CARPENTER

Copyright 1915, by F. G. Carpenter.)
 TURING the past few months Ihave travelled over the most b-.-1 important of the railway sys- t1sSxY&J tems of Brazil. have seen the
 best part of the trunk line that goes from Rio de Janeiro to Montevideo. and have gone north, west and south over the roads that radiate from the city of Sac Paulo. I went from Santos to Sac Paulo over a line that produces more revenue per mile than any other on the western hemisphere. It is only 124 miles long, but it's dividends on it's common stock are IA per cent, and it pays good rate on the preferred stock and bonds. That railway is one of the best managed in all South America There are few roads better built, and few that have cost so much or paid so we'll. The line is broad guage, and its average cost, including the termi- nals, has been more than $150,000 per mile The gross income now approxi- mates $40,000 mile, and the traffic is bound to increase.
 The Santos-Sao Paulo road is the great coffeee chute from the plantations to the sea. Along the Atlantic shores of Brazil runs a range of mountains 2O00 or 5000 feet high. Back of these mountains are great plateaus, the prod ucts of which have to be carried down to the sea coast It is only here and there that there are passes in the mountains, and it is where those passes occur that the chief railroads are. This was the reason for the Sac Paulo rail- way. It was to take the coffee down to the steamers, and today I venture, it transports perhaps half of all the coffee consumed by the world
 During the past season the road has been carrying from 10,00O,00O to 12, ,0O0,- . 900 pounds of coffee day and that down grades that render ordinary rail- roading out of the question. The drop from the plateau to the sea is about 5000 feet, and the most of this drop occurs within a distance of less than six miles. It is only on the pleateaus and coast levels that ordinary loco motives and ordinary trains can be used. The great climb is made in cars that run on cables from station to sta- tion much like the old cable street railways of the United States.
 I took the train at Santos and was carried over flat plain to the foot of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19
Rabbit Led the Way

From the New York World.
 Pratt, Kan.A Mexican, hunting six miles east of here, ran rabbit into hcle He pulled the bunny out, but the rabbit held sleeve of a mans jacket. Further examination by the Mexican showed that large swag of heavy sil- verware had been hidden in the hole. wrapped up in the jacket The police are trying to decide whether the silver was liddden treasure or the proceeds of . robbery. They suspect the latter.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

~1STUR EDDfTURs Theere is talking IMI about it, in theese parlus times must @ do lot of things one is not inclined to do, ksS8Kg just to keep in the swim. It's a reel pity
 folks can't jog along in the persoot of ples- and happiness guaranteed in the constituson, without having to wurry lot what othur folks think about it, but it won't wurk We have sertain responsibilities to the pubck which must be met if 1t takes the hide AS patriottick sitizens, therefore
 we ought to contnew to meet sed responsibilities long theere is scrap of hide left Lately have been lerning how to danse-that is to danse sum of theese moddern, up to date spasms that air popuer in the upper stratum of sosiety in which I occasionally slosh around in at such times feel like doing little sloshng bizness Yeers ago when
 yung and giddy used to danse, that is, at such inturvals as weer availabull I did my best to keep time with ansient colored fiddler who would grind out such classcks Turly in the Straw" and uther gems Between big meetings and laying by crop time theere usuelly ventursum persun in the nay borhood who would give danse and bring down upon theere heds the just condimnason of the forrain mis-
 sionery sosiety and allied forses, and always amung those present. In those days I was thin and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

Iyv YORK, December 1S.-(Sps. cial. .)-Snow a la Manhattan
 did you ever come in contact
 with that by no means rare
The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-19

Copyright, 1915, by F. G. Carpenter.) TURING the past few months I Ihave travelled over the most important of the railway sys sF9SzY%J tems of Brazil. I have seen the
 hest mart of the trunk line thai
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-03-08
MASONS IN Topeka.
Calendar and Directory Shows Mem
bership of 1922 Here.

The last Masonic calendar and diz
rectory, which has just been issued.
shows that the four blue lodges OF
the city have a membership of 2,222-
Topeka lodge No. II has 23I; orient
No. 81 has S23: Golden Rule No. %
has 337, and Sloan No 22o has 3D.
The two chapters of the Eastern
Star, BeuIah No. 81 has f96 members
and Helena has 209- There is only
one larger chapter than Beulah in
the United States. and Orient ledge
is the next largest in the state of KAN
sas. The Eastern Star is the woman ;
auxiliary of the Masons-
The headquarters of the Scottish
Rite for the Valley of Topeka is To-
Gated in Masonic Temple, 61s621-623
jackson street. There are four CO.
ordinate bodies in the Scottish Rite
The Orient Lodge of Perfection has
1875 members who have completed
the fourteenth degree Unity chap
ter Rose Croix, including those who
have passed through the eighteenth
degree, has ,362 mem bers. and God
frey de St. Omar Council of the
Knights kadOsh has 1,160 members
who have completed the thirteenth
degree. Topeka coDsistory has the
same number who are thirty-second
degree Masons The York Rite.
with Topeka Chapter No D. has 623
members. and Topeka Commandery
No. ). which includes only knights
TemDlar. has $40 mem berS.