davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

The strait is only 60 miles wide and on clear days it is possible to look from America to Asia. So he came back and similar result, and it was not until TAI that he saw the American continent and discovered the Shumagin Islands. At that time he anchored near the mouth of the Copper river and went on back through the Oleutians to the Island of Boring. belonging to Siberia. He was wrecked on that island and died there of scurvy. Some of his sailors made their way back to the mainland and they carried the story of the existence of Alaska and the wonderful furs of the Aleutians
 From that time the Russian made many expeditions to the Aleutians They brought back furs. and the reports went out over the world of the great wealth of furs in the northern Pacific This attract ed the attention of other countries and other navigators and there were a num- Der of exploring tours made by Spanairds and Englishmen which did much toward the opening of our great land at the north. It was in 1774 and 1775 that Juan Perez was sent by the King of Spain from Mexico to the north. He reached Dixon entrance, our international boundary, in 1774, and the year following came to Sit- ksa sound. Captain Cook sailed from Ply mouth, England. for this part of the world at just about the time that Jeffer- son was writing the Declaration of Inde- perdence It was he who established the fact that there was no land connection between America and Asia and he sur veyed part of the coast, outlining the chief features through more than 12 de- grees of latitude. He then went south to Hawaii where he was killed by the natives.
 Later still there were other explorations by the Russians, who formed trading companies. and there were independent fur traders from England and from our Atlantic coast. There were five ships from New England that came to Alaska in the latter part of the eighteenth cen tUry to buy furs, and one of these, com manded by Captain Gray, took his cargo of flrs to Canton, in China, and there around the Cape of Good Hope to Bos- ton. making the first voyage of an .mer- jean vessel around the world. He landed in Boston August 10, 1790.
 In the meanwhile the Russians had been gradually making their claims to Alaska, and along about the beginning of the last century they made treaties with England which conceded to them the Alaskan coast down to 54 degrees 40 minutes of north latitude. including the whole of the Alaska that we bought from them. At that time 1t is said that Rus sia had great ambition to control the Pacific, and that it was her aim to grab the whole of California and the Hawaiian Islands as well. Baranof, the man who founded Sitka, had fur trading stations as
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

of was governor of Russian America. The present building dates far back in the Russian occupation, but it is in use today, and has qiute a large congrega- tion presided over by the Russian dean of Alaska. I met this man during my visit to the church, and at my request he put on his robe and allowed me to photograph him. standing in front of the altar His name is the Very Rev. Amphilohy. He is a straight, stocky man of perhaps 40 years of age. He has long brown hair that flows down upon his shoulders, and heavy brown beard that half covers his chest,
 The Russians did great deal of mis- sion work in Alaska. They had mission stations on many of the Aleutian Islands and others scattered over the territory even to the mouth of the Yukon. Some of these missions are in existence today. and they are all presided over by Father Amphilohy. The Russian cathedral at Sitka is a museum of interesting pictures and jewels Many of it's paintings were brought around Cape Horn or across Si- beria, and some of them are by famous artists. One is an icon bearing the face OA tuS l-duy~ Ol 1Atldn. It represents a madonna and child, and is of great beauty I am told that the church has re- fused $25,000 for this single painting
 Of late years Sitka has lost it's impor- tance in the opening up and development of Alaska. The removal of the capital to Juneau took away about all the United States offices, and there is now no more quiet town in the territory The place Is away from the main lines of travel, and 1t is only reached by small steamer, or by the tourist boats in the summer, which bring sightseers here on account of the beauty and historic interest. It is well worth a visit. It is one of the scenic spots of the world, and it will always be important in the history and tra- ditions of the territory
 The history of Alaska covers just about l50 years, and. roughly speaking it may be divided into three periods of 50 years each The first 50 was the period of exploration and discovery The next 50 was that of the Russian occupation and the last 49 years covers the time since we purchased the territory
 Alaska was discovered by the Rus sians during the eighteenth century. but very little was known about it until al- most the beginning of the nineteenth It was in I'll that Peter Popoff sailed from Siberia around through Behring strait and brought back rumors that a continent existed on the other side of Asia. Seventeen years later, Peter the Great of Russia, who had heard of these stories, sent Vitus Boring, a Danish nav igator who had become Russian, out from Kamchatka to find out if they were true Rering went through Boring strait, but 1t must have been foggy, for he did not see the American shore or even the Diomede Islands, which lie half way in the strait
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27
IntoIer-
 eranCe

sis of the suphuric fumes of enturnal punnishmint that they advocate.
 As mattur of fact while constitusion provides for regius liburty and it is of the watchwords of the repubck, quite large and papitating part of populasion don't practise it to enny extnt that is notiseabul It is like the slogin in organck law, that evvery is ,presummed to be innosent until he is declared guilty by 12 of his pees words to that effect In most cases he is presumed to be guilty the spot by eyvery boddy in the immediate ysinnity, including his lawyer and wife's lasions It is much easier to beeeve sumthing bad about persun-espesial1y if that persun seeks offse-than it is to beleeve sumthing good.
 It is reeally remarkabull how menny-what verry grae percentage of the peepul of enny town city if a test be maid-who will grow suspissious of a publick ofisial if they Tern that he don't belong the same church that they honor Peepul with such conceptions of free country air dangerus in the ercise of the franchise They may be lberel and in tentionally good peepul-but the subject of lgiun theere minds air narrer enuff to sosh around in perfect freedum pin he'd.
 An amazing exampul of this rudely thrust upon the attension of the ritur not long ago. A sertain yung feller-whom most evvery boddy liked becawse
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

of his winning persunallity and reddy with a mint of weakness and grate temptason committed quite greevus offense against the law. As usuel theere weer menny carping persuns who expressed surprize, to say nuthing of sympathy-but the reel startling assigned for his fall by ndiyduel at leest his expression was; q not surprized that feler one of the most stucup Epscopalyens I evver saw"
 Religius lbburty with lots of peepul seems to be exercising it themselves and making evvery boddy else conform to theere idears.
 The time ought to cum in this country when mans womn's persunnel qualifications air given con. sderasion furst. When school boards and the cleo. torate and uthers charged with the selectson of teachers and publick offsials will pickering whethur the applicant is a Baptist a Methodist, Presbyterian or whatnot-and give sum atten- sion to whethur sed applicant is a reel human be- ing not-the country will take long stride to- ward the golden presincts of the New Jeurewsalem that will be appluded by the inhabitants of that holly phase.
 Hoping you air the same,
 Yours trooy,
 BILL VINES. Washington, D. C.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

lgius intollerense felt convinsed that theere was moor of it theere than enny uher spot of the same dimensions under the blew, blew sky. want to heer and now publickly apologize to sed community. ronged it-greevusly. Theere air uther plases-and menny of them-in this Dear Old Land of the Free and Home of the Bonhed of that can hold theere own with sed community along this line. I do not want to dsparrage the community menson-far rum it. It point with prde if it to do so when it cums to compleet and opaque ignerense and disregard for the religion and beleefs of uthers-but what do want to say that it is not the only pebe the beach,
 His experience is the experience of menny uthers
 It is quite nature thing that peepul should dffur when it cums down to details enny subject. But when the entire sivvlized world agree on essensias of the Prinse of Peese it passing strange that theere should be much feeling engendured and so little consideration shown by peepul toward uther peepul who mite diffur rum them as to slite details. What difference it possibuly make to a pilgrim who is bound for land that is fairer than this-if he is soused he'd and eers under the gurm ladened waturs of the Warrior rivur or is meerly sprinkled ovver his intellectual dome with sented
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

NY FEW YORK, February 26.-( -(Spe- LIN ial.)-Clothes-that's the intro lEHrs1S duction, and now, being certain v4x4Y of the interest and attention of
 femininity and more masculine interest than many males would be will ing to confess to, let's look at them from a Gothamic angle:
 The majority Of people who are right like to dress right and whoever said. Clothes don't make the man. uttered one of those abominable half-truths, the effect of which is often more detrmen- tGi than a whole lie, because of the diff culty in detecting it's misleading features.
 Clothes do not make the manor the woman-but the part they play in form ing other peoples opinions of him, or her is not to be underestmated. Advanced thinkers tell us that we are all more or less under the influence of what is called the world thought which is a sort of average formed from what the thoughts of people as whole are. In regard to clothes, this world thought is very we'll established. Our character our habits, soften our occupation, or avocation, and sometimes even our disposition can be closely guessed at, if not actually deter mined, by our apparel. And when these opinions are formed about us. they re- act upon us, giving us, in many instances, tendency to act up to the role thus as- signed us. Of this we are not always conscious. believing often that we are following our natural bent.
 NsThis is true, however, not only of clothes. but in general sense. It can easily be proved If number of friends
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27
THE ROMANTIC STORY OF ALASKA

with green. At one side of the town are grass-clad hills which rise almost straight Up from the water That was the site of the Baranof castle, where the Russian governor lived, and there today is the headquarters of the agri- cultural experiment station, of which Professor Georgeson is the chief. To the left of the cliffs as you enter the har- Dor are the wharves, with the main business street, named after President Lincoln, running back from them, and farther down the cove is a long row of two and three story houses, with manl flagstaffs rising above them. That is the Indian settlement. The town has altogether something like 1000 Indians, and we shall see Indians everywhere as we move through the streets. It has also about 800 whites. Their houses are along the main street. and back from it both. sides. covering the greater part of the cove.
 The houses of Sitka are old and new There are residences that would not be out of place in any American city of three times it's size, and there are log buildings 100 years old, which were built in the days of the Russians There is one great warehouse of logs so care fully fitted together that you could not put a knife blade between them. The logs are each two or three feet in diame- ter. They are almost dove-tailed, as it were. That building was a warehouse at the time We took over the territory and Tn the days of Russian prosperity it fre- quently had a million dollars worth of furs stored away in it. At the time of the sale to the United States it con tsiined 2o.0Oo sealskins, each of which then sold for less than $3.
 A little farther up the street is a log building covered with the moss of many decades, and still farther away, near the Russian cemetery, is a round Russian hlockhouse which bears the marks of the wars the Russians had with the Indians.
 The Sitka of today has a number of fine churches and large missionary school. There is an Episcopal church, built of stone, with the residence of the Bishop of Alaska behind it, and there are the large buildings of the SheIaon Jackson school. belonging to the Presby terians. The latter are half dozen in number, and they include industrial de- partments and dormitories for both In- dian bcys and Indian girls. The schools have between one hundred and two hun dred pupils, representing the chief tribes of southeastern Alaska. The children are clean and we'll dressed and the school has done a great work with its practical educational methods.
 The most prominent church building in Sitka is the Russian cathedral It stands at the end of the nam street coming up from the wharves on the site of church that was built here more than 100 years ago, when Baran-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

oi people III our midst who would nof nesltate to harm our little city if thev had a good chance. such as a deelar- alton Of war would give them.
 but, after getting us all excited ba iiao wonderful nerve quieter left he announced that n-then-then- would our noble police departmepx come to the front with muskets anai take such excellence care of is that We would not care how many airshins were dropping bombs from the upner ether
 l only hope the attacks will be made on the right blocks, b cause heard man scream in my bloclS recently about 8 o'clock in the morn ing-screamed as if his wife were kill ing him-and when I looked out or my window l heard policeman on tbe corner telling a bunch of help-hunters that 1t wasn't on his beat. But may be, when war is declared, the enemy will attack on the right beat-tben we shall be perfectly safe and happy.
 The new Fourth avUnue subway ia already in operation; tMe new Broad way subway will be in operation win N in less than a year, but the city of New York will get no money for some years to come--oh. we'll, maybe fhev will give free passes. Ss
 No, Natala, can't write an in&&.. view with subway conducfor. f,3. see. they do not exist-they cal1 fhet4 guards; and besides I'm sure coa11 {
 tceaslauss sa Last rass>
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

NOME with me for a walk through the old town of Sit
 H-1@ss ka. It was founded in 1799. kS&E&b at about the time that George
 Washington was dying at Mount Vernon, and it was thriving manufacturing center, building ships and making bells, blows, picks and spades when the Indians were still hunting deer on the site of Chicago For more than. 100 years it was the cap ita1 of Alaska and the center of it's commerce. exploration and modern de- ve1opment. Situated here in the Pan handle about as far north of Seattle as Minneapolis is north of New Or leans, it was selected by the Russians as the seat of their government and as the chief home of the officials and traders sent out by the Czar to what was then Russian America. Sitka was the capital of Alaska when we bought the territory, and it was here that the country was formally transferred to the United States. After that it remained the capital for almost 40 years, and it was not until about 10 years ago that the seat of government was transferred tci JullSdu, WAGI0 It IS IOW.
 Looking at Sitka as it is today, one does not wonder that the Russians chose it as their chief place of resi- dence. The town has a climate as mild as that of Baltimore or Rich mond. and it's surroundings are so beautiful that it will sometime be place of permanent residence for re- tired capitalists. and a summer resort. It is situated on Baranof Island, within short distance of the open Pacific It lies on a little bay at the mouth of the fast-flowing river, in the arena of an amphitheatre of snow clad mountains The waters in front of it have scores of small wooded islands, and all about it the hills rise to the clouds. One of the mountains is known as the Holy Cross from q figure of the cross in perpetual snow which shows out near it's summit This is Mt. yerstovia. It has man. tie of white throughout the winter, but in the summer the snow disap- pears. with the exception of this gi- gantic cross painted by the finger of God upon a background of green. Another mountain is Edgecombe, on the Island of Kruzof, over the way. Mount Edgecombe is an extinct vol cano as regular and as beautiful as Its outlines as Fujiyama, Japan. It was one of the first of the landmarks dis covered by Captain Cook when he sailed through these waters In 1776.
 Sitka lies on a cove in the hills. The crescent shore is rocky and the cove is rolling, but everything is covered
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27
Not Everything

From 8rowning's Magazine.
 If man ias the price he can get anything he wants and the way he warts it."
 Don't know about that There's the medium soft-boiled egg"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

grossed, signed and sealed and ready for transmission to the Senate. It was near the close of the session but the friends Of Alaska were brought to the front and within month from that time the treaty had been approved and Alaska was ours
 Up to that time the country had been known as Russian America. It needed sa new name and all kinds of ridiculous titles were suggested. One was '"The Zero Is- lands another Andy Johnson's Polar Bear Garden" and third 'Walrus-sia.s The treaty was called the polar bear treay, and the senators who favored it were dubbed the Eskimo senators. Tho nsme Alaska was finally chosen at tha instance of Charles Sumner, who said that 1t was the title that the natives used and which, translated, means '"The Great Mainland"
 The ceremony of taking possession of Alaska was performed here at Sitka on Friday, October IS, 1867. Two hundred American soldiers under Gen Jefferson c. Davis, took their positions on the easr side of the flagstaff which stood near the castle, and an equal number of Russian soldiers were lined up opposite them. It was 30 o'clock in the afternoon when the HuSSlan captain ordered the Russian flag to be pulled down. The men tried to do so, but the flag had caught in the ropes and would not move A Russian soldier was ordered to climb the flagstaff and bring down the flag. He tried to do SO and failed Another man tried and did not succeed A third attempt was made and the man got the flag but it slipped from his hands, was caught by the wind and carried out so that it fell on the bayonets of the Russian soldiers The incident was so affecting that the Prin- cess Maksutoff who was present with the Russians wept, and the soldiers were visibly moved
 Following this. "Old Glory was hoistea and the American gunboats in the har- Dor and the Russian battery on shore fired a salute. Prince Maksutoff, the Rus sian commissioner. then stepped forth and said to General Rousseau, who was the American commissioner: ''By the author- ity Of his imperial majesty the Empero- or Russia transfer to the United States the territory of Alaska" Prince Maksu toff then handed over the insignia of his office as governor, and General Roussea,1 made speech accepting the transfer And that was all. With words that would hardly i'll more than paragraph of this letter, Alaska changed it's allegiance. and uncle sam added to his possessions n country one-fifth as large as that of inc United States proper, and resources thas have already brought in more than sea0 00O,cO0, and that will bring in billions more in years yet to come
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27
1 M l E1|

maps glVeS STaCur IaSSlllUleS TOT eYVery- boddy in town to get posted evvery boddy else's bizness with far less effurt than is required like process in big city But the human being that lives in the big city and the human being that lives in the rural village air the same kind of human beings ex- actly-sum good peepul; moderately good pee pull; sum sensibul peepu; sum meddesum peepul, and quite job lot of the ordinery plain evvery day Nptts of Commerse. A frend of mine sed to me re- gently: T ivved in small community for grate menny yeers. Theere weer lot of good peepul in that communnity-quite lot of them l beleeve theere weer total popuason of about 200O and all of them exsept 1887 weer what would call reel good peepu Peepul who attinted strictly to theere own bizness and would not critisze theere naybors or gossip about each uthers affairs or indulge in the narrow, evvery day shop that characterizes evvery community, large small But of the besetting sins of that community" he sed land one which was convinsed when livved theere did not obtain in enny uther community under the sun-was re-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

Sit1a lies on a cove in the hills The crescent shore is rocky and the cove is rolling, but everything is covered
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

NISTUR EDDITUR.o The peepul of this coun-
 try air pretty much, the same kind of peepul -whethur they live in a small community or large one. The small community per
 haps gives gratur fassillities for evvery-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27
By FRANK G. CARPENTER Copyright, 1916, by Frank G. Car
 penter)

oME with me for a walk through the old town of Sit
 ka. It was founded in 17s9,
 at about the time that George Washington was dying at
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-27

The most prominent church building in Sitka is the Russian cathedral It stands at the end of the man street coming up from the wharves on the site of church that was built here more than 100 years ago, when Baran-
The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-03-22

WASHINGTON, D. C., March 21.- In a report which has just been is- sued in relation to the need of the early passage of the shipping bill, 1t is shown that there are now two thousand ships less at sea than there were in service before the war. This includes those interned. the German ships removed from the sea all told including sunk, cap- tured or interned being about six hundred.
 The only nation which has in- creased its fleets to any great num- erical extent is Japan although the
The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-03-22
FORMER NOME MINER
 IS SUING LINDBL ON

SEATTLE. March 21.-Suit has been commenced by Olaf Clausell against Lindblom, one of the lead- ing men of the Pioneer Mining Go. which although a Nome concern is incorporated under the laws of the State of Washington.
 The complaint alleges that the plaintiff is suffering 8 breach of contract. That he went from Nome to the Kobuk in 1903 to take charge of the Lucky Three mine. That he got caught in the blizzard and was badly frozen while getting supplies for the defendants mine; that he received no adequate com pensation for his work and none for
The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-03-22
SUB- COMMITTEE FAILS
 IN TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN

X CHICAGO. March-21,-The repup- liean Arrangements Sub-C Committee is reported to have failed to name a temporary chairman of the con vention owing to the friction be- tween the individual members on the point.
 It is now left up to the National Committee, the subcommittee today adjourning sine die.
 Reports leaking out say that some wanted Root named temporary chairman, but as it was held that as his chairmanship might recall the steam roller of other days his pre-. sence would block reconciliation