davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08

ing from the terminus of the navigable part of the Congo for all goods ar- irving by the west coast, or taking the paths of the Uganda from Lake Victoria for the goods sent by the east coast; of the trouble to bring to the scene of action the war material, and foods. for an army in the midst of its organization, right at the extremity of it's lines of communication, 500 kilometers from It's base.
 These brief indications will suffice to show the superhuman effort imposed upon the Belgians by the German ag- gression in Africa.
 The artisans of this gigantic work have contributed to demonstrates once more Belgian energy and tenacity. Among them should be mentioned: M. Henry, governor general of the Congo Major General Tombeur. entrusted with the high command of the forces massed in front of German East Africa Colonel Molitor, commanding the troops of the north; ; Lieutenant Colonel Olsen, commanding the troops of the south; and also the
 
 Congo to the big African lakes. Mir Adam The latter crowned a colonial career already long by a master strike. At the beginning of the war the portion of the railway cutting from Kabalo Con the River Congo) to Lake Tanganika, was far from being completed: 100 kilo- meters still separated the terminus of the railway from the borders of the big African lake; in a few months. under the energetic direction of Mir. Adam, the work of the railway. of which the stra- tegical importance is considerable, was terminated
 While the organization of the Belgian troops was going on. the enemy tried on several occasions to bring the war into Belgian territory, but these attacks resulted in failure.
 Evidently only one way was open to General TomDeur to put the frontier defi- nitely in safety; that was to carry the operations into German territory. This he did immediately his troops were in order. in cooperation with the British forces in East Africa.
 "On April IS, 1916. the hour arrived for the offensive On that day detach- nent of the First regiment of the Olsen southern extremity of the Lake Kivu, in order to take the German post of Shangugu from the other side: the next day. April 19 the remainder of the same regiment took his position. the same evening our colors fioated in German ter ritory.'
 M. Renkin sketched the numerous sue cessive engagements from this date to the latter part of June, when the first
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08

objective of the Belgian troops was reached-namely the plain between Lake Tanganika and Lake Victoria, in, the northwest corner of German East Africa.
 From there the second phase of the campaign began, the pushing of the Bel gian line eastward toward Tabora. Dur ing July the ''Moltor brigade distin- guished itself particularly by pushing the Germans back at the point of the bayonet in full retreat toward the Mwan- ga (Lake victoria) route at Tabora.
 While these events were taking place. the Olsen brigade were proceeding to- ward the south. and the ;iret regiment operating on it's left. reached the River Combe July 2a establishing tre connec- tion between our left wing ,the Monitor brigade) anJ cur right.
 During the same month of July the Belgian fotilla of Lake Tanganika and the aeroplane squadron also showed great activity. bombarding several times the positions of Kigoma- Udjiji and as- surfing, by the destruction of all the Ger man naval units still in service the at |. solute mastership of Lake Tanganika
 From then onward the troops placed under. the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Mouaert and charged specially with the defense of the western side of the lake. became at liberty. and were able to reinforce the right wing under General Tombeur for the march on Tabora."
 The portion of the colony into which the Belgians are now seeking to pene- trate is the finest section of German East Africa. In the meantime the British oper- ating on the Indian ocean coast of the colony have reported occupation of the principal seaport, Dar- -Es-Salam, which, on September g. surrendered to a com bined land and naval attack, and are striving to cooperate with the Belgians in completely surrounding the German forces.
 M. Renkin, concluding his interview, said:
 ''In Africa today, at the same time as she is defending in Flanders the last shred of national territory. Belgium is striking another blow at the powerful empire that threatened her independence This blow is particularly felt by Ger many because it touches her pride and her dreams of oversea expansion.
 "rhe Belgian army has in 20 combats overthrown the German troops and made them nee before them for distance of over 800 kilometers, taking prisoners and trophies at each step.
 The German chancellor spoke complais- antly recently of the war map This point of view is a narrow one when 1t is the case of a war that is not yet fin- ished. Evidently the chancellor did not think that Belgium. for her part. was in a position to reply to him. Look at the map of Europe and of Africsp and com
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08

also plumbers supplies, glass windows and porcelain bath tubs.
 There is a warehouse devoted to horse 20oO tons of baled hay. oats and bran. The hay sells for s1oo per ton, and oats bring or 6 cents a pound.
 This establishment runs a steam heating plant which warns the busi- ness part of Fairbanks. It has a cen tral station. with the pipes running from it through the chief buildings of the business section. including the most of those within eight or ten blocks. The plant furnishes heat to its customers at so much per month throughout the year. It keeps the stores and houses warm when the thermometer goes down to so or TO de- grees below zero. The pipes run side by side with the water pipes, so that the latter are kept from freezing in the heart of the winter.
 An interesting thing In connection with the steam-heating plant is that it burns wood only. It takes 10000 cords to keep the plant going during the season, and today there is a wood pile on the edge of the town large enough for next winters demand. I went out to see it. The wood Is cut in cord wood lengths and piled up to a height of eight feet. The pile covers 12 acres. I walked around it and it was almost a Sabbath days tourney. I climbed up on top and had photo graph made to show the length of the wood and it's character. That wood all cost over sS cord, and the pile Is worth more than $So,000
 This wood is spruce. and it is cut from government land within five miles of Fairbanks. The government charges the wood cutters a stumpage of :, 25 cents cord. The men who fell the trees and cut them into sticks charge s3 per cord, and those who haul them into the city get about $4 or more. I know one man who can haul as much seven cords at a load. He ects S for dragging one two-horse load five miles over the snow. It seems rather high.
 It is little, however, compared with the cost of the same wood at the mines In such cases it has to be hauled much farther and over bad roads. The result is the price rises to s15 and $16 a cord It takes at least two cords of wood to furnish the heat equal to that in one ton of coal. When the railroad is completed, coal from the Nenana fields not far away, should be delivered in Fairbanks at $5 or $s a ton, making
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08

His prayer always gloomy and pessimistick orason of sufisient length insure the soup being cold and cammy, and calculated to prepair his hear for the wurst
 We enjoyed the trip to the country alrite, but the dinner or less of failure It consisted of dark blew petision to the sopreem Ruler of the Universe, ala creole. cold soup, faseegued cabbage weary eggs and the skney neck frum a diseased chicken of unserain age and ansestry, for which we weer assessed g for the two and fine of five bones for exceeding the speed lmmit. Sumhow this periense took all the pleasure out of the crisp try air. ladened with wild onions and assorted pig pens and felt like that in the future that woulC wrestle with the high cost of vvng organized in the ctty limmts.
 We respectfully submit that the cost of livving is becumming a serious mattur when it invades the country in the abrupt and flewant 1t seems to have dun. It is question that must reseeve the attension of the plain peepul if sumthing cannot be dun about it. What need is sum moor reform-or it may be that we have had too much of 1t. Yours trooly,
 BILL VINES. Washington, D. C.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08

pare: Germany occupies the larger part of Belgium, but all the same less thap 2o0Oo square kilometers; on the other hand, the Belgian flag floats over 100000 square kilometers of German territory in Africa. The one certainly does not rec ompense the other, but it is none the less true that the Belgian victories in Africa go far toward solidfying the pollt- ical situation of Belgium.
 Prepared, organized and transported under the greatest difficulties and when the Belgian state was going through the sorest trials that government could know, the Belgian troops are still. for every Belgian. a subject of legitimate patriotic pride, and furnish to all other countries who take an impartial view or the facts, new and decisive proof of the extraordinary vitality of our little nation"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08

Another part of the warehouses is de- voted to fresh fruits. This contains ap- pies and oranges and grapefruit, the lat ter now selling at 45 cents apiece. In the same place are potatoes in bulk, which are bringing g bushel. They are shipped here in crates and will keep all winter. At retail they sell by the pound. IT, olden days I am told that the com rsny brought in al much as 10000 bushels of potatoes in season. The imports are less now on account of the supply that is raised by the farmers of Alaska,
 Goods have to be carefully packed and put up in special ways for the Alaska trade They must be so treated that they will stand the changes of climate, the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter Perishable provisions are coated with gelatin. Take hams, for instance. They must be so protected that they will not be ruined if lost in the snow or dropped into a river. Each ham Is care fully curedy and then sewed up in can vas, which is dipped in gelatin that gives it a guelike coating and makes 1t alright Cheese is packed the same way. The cheeses are of every variety, includ- ing cartwheels from Switzerland, put up in boxes; Camembert, in tin foil, and cream cheese from Oregon, covered with gelatin. The stores carry Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Limburger and other va rieties of ill-smelling delicacies.
 was interested in the furniture and woodware The company keeps billiard tables and pool tables ready for shipment. It has wagons and sleds, and some of the latter will carry 10 tons at load. It has also dog sleds to be used, for the traffic in winter, and with them dog harness with tugs, collars and back straps The ordinary dog sled costs s10. Another article of merchandise is dog feed, great deal of which is ordinary tallow. The dogs on the traif are fed once d day and that at nightfali Their usual meal is fish and rice cooked together with tall low. This firm will sell about 100, 900 pounds of tallow next winter.
 Another department is devoted to mining supplies, including every min ing machine and the fittings there for. There are great bales of wire cable for hoisting the earth from the mines; steam engines. air compressors and steam points for thrawing the earth. There are bales of wire for chicken yards and fox farms. The lat ter is made of tough steel and is strong. There is wire netting for fishwheels, and some of fine mesh for the gold re- duction plants. There is, I venture, q half acre devoted to hardware This includes all sorts of farming machin- cry, blows, reapers and mowers, and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08

War being forced upon it, the Belgian government could no longer hesitate in doing it's duty.
 aggression against Lukuga, the Belgian government sent the following instruc- tions to the authorities of the Congo:
 '' Tn view of the direct attacks by the Germans against the coloney of the Bel gian Congo, and particularly against the port of Lukuga, the government com mands you to take all military measures for the defense of the Belgian territory.
 :" Consequently. you can authorize the entrance of the English troops in Bel gian territory. accept the offer of pas sage for the Belgian troops in Rhodesa, undertake, in cooperation with the Brit ish troops or by means only of Bel gian troops, all offensive action that the defense of the integrity of our colonial territory demands
 Belgian Congo has common frontiers with two German colonies: German East of eight degrees, and Kamerun that, since 1912 has projected to the Belgian frontier two 'antennaeT' taken from the French Congo at the juncture of the Ubangi and the Lobaye and at the june ture of the Sanga and the River Congo.
 'It was necessarily in these regions, where the two states were in contact, that the military events took place.
 Tn the first phase of the war the Bel gian colonial troops participated in con Junction with the French troops in the basin of the Sanga The Belgians sent there contingent of infantry with ar tllery, and an armed boat, which sup ported the action of the troops in the navigable part of the river. The press communiQues have described the opera tions in this region. Each combat was another success for the Belgians, the black troops, led by few Belgian of- ficers. covering themselves with glory. After 16 months of marching and in- cessant struggles in forests and swamps, in a region void of resources and de- tended at each step by a tenacious ad- versary the Belgian troops, on July 2S, 1916, effected their triumphal entry, with the British and French troops. into
 Yaunde, war capital of the German colony of Kamerun. more than 1000 kilo- meters from their point of departure at the Belgian Congo frontier.
 While the Belgian column sent against the Kameruns was doing glorious work in the vest continued M Renkfn, tine troops of the east resisted herocially the vain attempts to violate our from tier by troops of German East Africa and by bands of native thieves employed by them.
 The military forces of Belgian Congo
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08

ritory. The Alaska company originated and developed the transportation of Alas ka, and had it's stores and trading posts not only in the islands of the southeast, the Aleutians, the southern coast of the mainland, and in Boring sea- but also at St. Michael, at the mouth of the Yukon. and all along that river to the boundary of Canada.
 When the Alaska Commercial com pany dissolved the Northern Commercial company took over its business in in- stores in the basins of the Yukon and the Kushkokwim, covering the mining camps and chief fur trading points. It supplies many of the roadhouses, and does wholesale and retail business over a ter ritory which is perhaps one-tenth as large as the United States proper The com pany has capital of s, ,500, 900, the stock being owned mostly in San Francisco and England.
 People who base their ideas of Alaskan trade on the small country store or the mining camp should go through some of these mercantile estab-
 
 side of the Northern Commercial com pany that do a large business. but none that covers such a great area and han dles everything needed by the people. The establishment here at Fairbanks, for instance, consists of stores ware houses and cellars with floor space of six or eight acres. It includes machine shops and foundries, cold storage and warm storage quarters, branches de- voted to wholesale and retail, as well as waterworks, steam heat and cleo tric light plants.
 The mercantile establishment has now on hand more than s1,0OO0O worth of groceries, provisions and other supplies, and it's retail branch Is like a small department store in the states Goods have to be bought in large quan- titles, for the country is locked in ice for seven months of the year, during which time everything goes in and out on dog sleds.
 In one of the cellars, for instance, I saw 10000 cans of condensed milk, con- densed cream and other canned goods, iLcluding egg powder from which you could make up an omelette quite as good as from ranch eggs. l saw thousands of real eggs in the shell which had been packed in the states gone 1000 miles over the ocean to Skagway, and there, cross Ing the mountains, had come down the Yukon I saw canned potatoes and canned corn. The potatoes are cooked whole and put up in cans, in which shape they sell for as much as s10 or $50 a bushel Some of the corn is canned in the ear, and has only to be warmed, when you can chew it from the cob in the dead of the winter.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08
BELGIUNMS WAR TN EAST AFRECA-lBv Associated Press

s PSs.. 0 1S With the Bulgian forces in ', Eastern Africa fighting to com plete the conquest of the last colony in the world where the German flag still floats, the Belgian minister of colonies, M. Renlxin. granted today to a repre- sentative of the Associated Press an in terview on the whole scope of the war in Africa.
 Mr. Renkin is one of the first authori- ties in Europe on colonial affairs. The Independence of the Congo was brought about largely through him, and since then he has been. as minister of colo nies, tho directing spirit of the vast Con- go establishment with territory 70 times the size of Belgium, and an army of 120o Belgian officers leading Congo native soldiers almost as great in number as the army of the United States. This is the black army, with only a breach clout for uniform. that has swept across German East Africa until all the rich northwest section-12 times the size of the territory held by Germany in Bel gium-is now held by the Belgians in the former German colony.
 M. Renkin was seen in his colonial of- Aces. established for the duration of the
 war in villa at Ste. Addresse, s suburb of Havre. overlooking the sea.
 Speaking first of the way Belgium had been dragged into a war in Africa by German attacks on the Congo he said:
 "One cannot insist too much upon the point, because 1t characterizes the con- stant policy of our nation. respectful of international treaties and profoundly pa- cific. but indomitable when it's rights are violated. Belgium, who affirms so bril- liantly her force in Africa. did all m her power to avoid the war; the doca- ments pub lished in the gray book relate this history
 "The general act of Berlin of 1885 was entirely inspired by the desire to pre- Serve Central Africa from violent con ficts. The thought of it's authors was that this part of the world ought to be reserved territory. where all nations con- tributed peacefully in the spreading Of civilization by the propagation of the l Christian faith and by honest commerce, Central Africa should be kept outside ' of armed conflicts between European. | states and, in this respect. Article Of I the act of Berlin specified that Tn the 4 case where power exercising the rights \ of sovereignty or protectorate in the >anntries mentioned in the first article As laced under the regime of com mercial liberty is involved in war, the ' high parties signing the present act and
 those who will consequently adhere there-
 to, engage to lend their good services so
 that the territories belonging to that
 power and included in the conventional
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08

consisted solely of infantry organized in companies of varying strength spread over the whole of the territory, and hav- ing the one and essential mission to maintain order in the interior. Mention might be made. of few pieces of ar tillery, of low caftbre and the existence of so-called artillery and engineers, charged with the guard and occupation of the fortified work which had been built there.
 Ut was not an army, but rather an organized police force. justly called the public force This shows more than any argument the confidence that the Belgian government placed in the treaties. and it's resolution to conform strictly to the spirit of the act of Berlin of 1885.
 'The theatre of war was POGO kilometers from the ocean, right in the center of Africa. Therefore, for the carrying out of this campaign. many months were necessary. The programme was first to assure the defense of the frontier. so as to allow the Belgian troops to be or ganized But the defensive offered oc- casion to these troops of distinguishing themselves in many combats From the Rhodesian frontier to the south of Lake Tanganika, up to the borders of Uganda at the north of Lake Kivu, the German troops multiplied the attacks these troops were numerous and of excellent formation, comprising a large proportion of Europeans. The latter consisted, in the first place, of contingent sent from Germany on the occasion of the exhibition at Oar -Es-Salan. and of the inaugura- ton of the railway from the Indian ocean to Tanganika, who found themselves in the coloney when war was declared. Tn the second place. the cruiser Koenigs- berg had been sunk by the British navy in the River Rufidji. and her crew joined the European troops held up at Dar-E Salam and the numerous reservists who composed the European unit. The larger part of the forces were formed with the aid of black troops, well-armed and well provisioned
 None other of Germany's African col onies was so well prepared for the un- dertaking of long war.
 From September. 1914 by means of taking away men from the strongholds Of the interior. while leaving there a sufficient number of men to meet any eventuality, the Belgians concentrated strong forces on the eastern frontier of the Congo, and until April 1916, or for a months, all the activity of the colony was devoted to the organization of the Eastern troops
 Think of the effort it must have cost to effect the transport, all carried on mems backs. along caravan routes. start