davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23

weighs about ton and half It would be a good load for two horses Let us suppose it could be put upon wagons and each team with it's wagon take 30 feet space on the roadway. The teams re- quired to haul the whole mass would be 1,200, ,o0o,0O0 feet long or, for easy figur- ing, at 5000 feet to the mile it would reach from here for a distance of 250OO0 miles. It would be long enough to go 10 times around the world at the equator and if it could be started through space on a roadway of moon-beams 1t would extend all the way to that luminous body that makes our nights glorious and still leave 10000 miles of wagons to follow.
 Up to the present time more than s1S5.- 000.000 worth of gold has been taken out of the klondike, and of that vast sum more than two-ffths has come from min- ing the low-grade earth with modern machinery. MT. Thomas tells me that when he first came here to look into the country as a low-grade proposition for the Guggenheim syndicate, the crowd of fortune hunters had left and the few still at work were barely making day wages. They were scattered up and down tho valley, and the Yukon Gold com- pany could have then bought the right to the whole of the Klondike for a very small sum. It confined its purchases only
 
 It was then thought that dredges could not handle the heavy quartz powders found among the gravel, and. at first, sta- tionary machines, consisting of ladders with endless buckets, were employed to dig up the earth and get out the gold Later the dredges were found to work well, and after a time was evolved the strong dredge-type that is now used. heza today.
 The old miners threw away the values that are now being saved. Their way of testing the gold in a pan was by guess, and that after the earth had been washed off. One day MT. Thomas showed an old miner a pan which he had just finished washing, and asked him what he thought it would run. The pan contained few grains of gold dust and quite a little flour gold. The miner tilted the pan so that the grains ran to one side and then took his thumb and scraped out the flour and threw it away. The stuff he threw out was just what Mir Thomas was try ing to save. and upon which all his cal- culations were based. Still the miner thought 1t worth nothing
 It has been in such nothings that the Yukon Gold company has invested capi. tai to the amount of s17.ooo,Ooo It has dredging operations in Alaska and in the Klondike up to two years ago it had taken out millions and paid to it's stockholders s6,o0o0O0 to $7,00o,000 in divi- dends. The profits of the plant here last year were more than S,0Oo,0oo.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23

snow white and in the distance looked not unlike marble.
 The whiteness of the silt and gravel is a characteristic of the bed of the famous White river channel, which flowed through this region in prehis- toric times at an altitude several hum dred feet above the present beds of the creeks. The streams of later ages have cut their way down through the old river bottom, and are now running through valleys far below It is in what is left of the banks of the old White river bed that the low grade gold dust washed out by hydraulics is found. Tho old river probably carried all the gold now found in the creeks far below, and they are now sluicing down its former banks to get the gold dust remaining. How long ago the old river flowed no one knows. The miners have discov- cred fossils of tropical plants, showing that it antedated the glacial period, and they wash out now and then the remains of mastodons and other pre- historic animals which until now have been locked up in the perpetual ice.
 Tn getting the gold the water washes the sand and gravel down into sluice boxes filled with steel rifles bedded in mercury. As the stuff runs over the rifles the quicksilver catches the gold and the rock and sand only go on to the tailings below. Some of the gold sinks into the pile at the foot of the sluicing and does not get into the boxes until the cleanup of the fall when a quarter of a million dollars may be found in the gravel and sand at the foot of the cliff. Something like 3,000,000 cubic yards of earth is han dled this way by the hydraulic giants each year and this brings out gold to the amount of over s600,000. The aver age gold contents of the gravel is in the neighborhood of 20 cents per cubic yard, and of this one-half is said to be profit.
 As we rode up the valleys I asked MT. Thomas whether they were able to win all the gold. He replied:
 We may lose a cent or two to the ton, but the amount is small that we are unable to tell just what it s The stuff that goes through the dredges may at times yield 60 cents a yard, and there may be patches that will run s per yard or more. We work only in large quanti- ties and we know what our averages are"
 I asked as to the amount of material handled, and was told that within the last eight years more than 100000 cubic yards of earth and rock had been washed by the dredges and the hydraulic giants, the output being about 5000 900 cubic yards for each year. I then took my paper and figured. A cubic yard of this rock
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23
THE KLONDIKE OF TODAY

defaced the landscape with piles of half-frozen muck. A little later the dredgers came in and turned the land upside down. They stripped off the sur face of grass and stumps and plowed the beds of the creeks in great fur rows 30 feet deep, until they are now as bare and as dreary as any part of the Sahara. The two corporations which have done most of this work are the Yukon Gold company commonly known as the Guggenheims, and Joseph W. Boyle, Ltd, or the Mining Company of the Canadian Klondike. featuring proposition, which is differ ent from any other in the mining camps of the world. In this letter shall treat of the Yukon Gold only.
 But let me give you some pictures of the klondike of today. I took ride up the valley this afternoon with Mir. Chester A. Thomas, the resident man. ager of the Yukon Gold company. We had a high powered automobile, and flew up the Klondike valley winding our way in and out through great piles of debris. We rode along Bonanza and EldOrauO creeks, Wnlcn nave been dredged from one end to the other, and along the sides of mountains where they are now sluicing down the bed of the famous White river channel. The whole way was through a mass of gravel, rock and earth washings. The beds of the rivers and creeks have been plowed in great furrows many feet high There are places where miles of powders. pebbles and broken rock seem to flow in mighty stream like that of a glacier down the noun tains that rise from the valley. Streams of water as big around as the thigh of a man are shooting out of pipes with such a force that they hit the icy gravel at 100 pounds to the inch, and that notwithstanding it Is several hun dred feet from the pipe mouth to the hill. In other places the water drops from the top of the mountain, wash ing down the ice melting earth. the whole giving one the impression that mighty cloudburst has torn down the hills and that avalanches of earth slides have filled up the valleys.
 The excavation that has been done in the Klondike has been surpassed only by that of our great canal at Panama. The have, on the famous gold creeks, nine dredges which are tearing nature to bits to get out the 60 cents worth of gold still locked up in each ton of their rock and sand They have a dozen hydraulic giants which are melting and gouging the hills to save the 10 or 20 cents of gold
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23

been exhausted; beauty was everywhere around us, and we could no longer in- dulge in the little eiaculatory remarks seemed to fall short of the actual nature beauty itself. One member of the party caused an appreciative murmur by an- nouncing, Tt is Newport"
 And it was, in deed-a Newport on Long Island. Just why it's fame has not spread more widely is a mystery, for certainly the beauties of that famous summer home of wealth could in no way shame Long Islands northern shore. Nature gives it a riotous beauty, and art has quelled the riot, and brought forth splendor that is not exceeded, even if paralleled in all America Someone has said that man canont improve upon nature-I don't know Il don't know-have you motored through the north end of Long Island?
 But even all this did not stop us, save for brief pauses, when some member of the party believed that he had discovered a spot more superlatively beautiful than all the rest-it was always a mooted question, however. On through village after village we sped: roadhouse after roadhouse offered all sorts of induce ments, but there was no drink to be found iE any of them that could have given US the stimulus we were getting from the wonderful air, with its salt water odor.
 Near some of the villages were negro cabins about which played little negroes making as typically a southern scene as could be found around the cotton fields of Alabama. Through Jericho we flashed "a place I have often been told to go to- then Bayville, and then the pretty little settlement which one strenuous gentle man has placed ineradicably upon the map-Oyster Bay.
 Oyster Bay is filled with beautiful homes. It's streets are typical village thoroughfares. and its people make one wonder if Broadway really is just short distance from where they live. Of course, we have come here to see the home of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23
SEEING THE
 MOVIES'

and had a rope around his tail to keep him from tax ing a perminint vacasion.
 And then haven't you sceen the wild animals of the junguI? Lions, tigurs, bearcats and Rynoseriuses? Of corse-well you can shake hands with enny of them enny old day you want at the in Filladelfa or New York, or evven rite heer in Washington. The wild and feerosius old lion that chases the butiful maiden all the lonely Hand upon which she has been cast by shipreck-is not feerosius at al-he don't want to devour the pretty maiden-not your life-al he wants is his breakfast-mcsty mush of kind he Is old he has lost most of his teeth if he caught up with the pretty maiden he wouldn't rend her limb rum limb-no you would notise it-all he'd do would be to rub his hur hose the cid rascal-and purr
 So, in everything else in this life, what in the Movies, is not what it Theere air tricks in the trade of fotografy-as well in all utheu trades. Most of it is site of hand-and it's the old game of putting sumthing the Vox Popul Howevver-weye got to hand it to em-a lot of it is fake-but devveish good fakng at that.
 Yourts trooly
 BILL VINES. Washington D. c.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23

in each wagon load of the old White river channel At Juneau I saw them handling ore worth s1.5O to the ton, and it seemed wonderful that it could be done at profit. Here they are taking out 20 cents worth of gold to the ton, and the cost is so low that it pays The amount of gold dust in each ton is as small as the pinch of snuff which your grandmother drew up her nose, and it is evenly mixed through as much sand as two horses can haul on wagon Still they can sluice down the sand so that every atom of that pinch of gold dust is saved.
 I despair of making you appreciate the difficulties of mining in this icy land of the north. The winters are so cold that the Yukon Gold company cannot work it's machinery for more than. seven months of the year. The most of the profits are made in the open season of TO days and then the work is shut down until next summer In addition to the ice of the present is that of the far dis tant past. In other placer mining re- gions the earth and rock are free from frost. The gold is sprinkled through them diiu you HdNc oHiy tO ulS ana .WdSn lO get the gold out. Here the whole coun- try, with the exception of a foot or so at the surface, is one mass of ice mixed with boulders, pebbles and sand that has been perpetually frozen for thousands of years. Its condition dates back to the ice age of the prehistoric past. The ice goes down to no one knows where. They have sunk diamond drills in some places to a depth of 300 feet and found the earth frozen solid all the way through. The gravel is bedded in the ice, and the ice, sand and earth remain as hard as stone, no matter how hot the summer. The conglomerate or frozen mixture is covered by a thin bed of muck, on the top of which grows layer of arctic moss, the two forming an insulator that preserves the frozen condition beneath. It is only when the moss and muck are stripped off that the hot summer sun makes any impression on the glacial ice cap below.
 It is springled through this ice, earth and rock that the gold values lie. There is little not far from the surface. but the most of the gold is at bedrock. which may be 30, 40 of 50 feet down. The frozen earth has to be thawed out inch by that it can be swallowed by the dredges that gulp it down at the rate of 26 bites to the minute and about one-third of a ton to the bite. They take up the stuff in great buckets which run on an end- less chain and throw it into revolving screens. These screens roll the, rocks
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23
UP AND DOWN BROADWAY--By Allen Griffin Johnson

architectural wonders. Not of the down. town Manhattan kind, but just as wen- derful in their way, and far more beau tiful. As we motored past a great edifice with a lawn full of flowers, and a rear porch that offered a magnificent view of the sound. we found ourselves endeavor- ing to figure out just what the owner of such place could possibly find to worry about. And looking far below the level of the house, we beheld him--in all probability swimming about in the blue waters of the sound, his wife and chill dren also enjoying the afternoon plunge regardless even of the shark dangers, while far downtown in Manhattan certain well paid menials kept a business going that made such life possible.
 As we sped farther north, we found more and more hilliness. The level sector of Long Island is all to the south It's northern shore is as hilly as Norfolk Va. Summer hotels are there in num- bers, splendid homes. and a scenic beauty that is not possible farther south, where the table like surface makes for greater monotony.
 Finally, above the ferry that takes thA Long Islanders over to Rye Beach, wa curve 8 bit inland, and find ourselves in a perfect maze of roadways, most of which look as if they were driveways of private residences And some of them are. The road sides are lined with per- fectly kept hedges; there are pools, of an artificial character, lying placidly undef the bending boughs of weeping willows. Marble figures are to be seen here and there about these quiet little lakelets and when there is even so much as tennis court. either end of it is bower of roses, the wire netting having been overgrown with roses. giving the effect of classic pergola, in pink and white.
 Over the hedges through the trees we peered, hoping to catch glimpses of the magnificent homes we knew lay behind them. Now and then we were successful again we looked in vain. Adjectives had
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23

Teddy. We pull up in front of what looks like village blacksmith shop, but which, inreality, is a gasoline station, and S the little fiivver is getting it's refresh ment, we ask the dealer about Teddy and Teddy's home
 "Oh, yes," he says. in answer to a question, Roosevelt is in the village al- most every day, when he is home He has plenty of friends here-and almost as many politically. Personally, every one seems to like him, and he seems to like every one"
 We are told also that we cannot see his home from the road. but that it is necessary to climb Sagamore Hill. A little farther on we find the entrance to his grounds, and, leaving the f1ivver mount the steep sides of Sagamore as bravely as Teddy himself rode up San Juan hill in other and more strenuous days
 The house is unpretentious. Near it are neighboring houses of greater size, and certainly of much more exterior magnifi- cence. It looks like a real home, how ever, and near it is barn that is quite as large as the residence itself.
 Teddy was not at home. It was a bit- ter appointment and no doubt made him feel badly when he learned of our call. The lawn was inviting, however. and we seated ourselves upon it. Here and there about us grew great tiger lilies and we became marauders in full view of the servants. who gazed at us from that broad, low front porch of Teddy's that has appeared so often in the movies.
 After half hours visit we returned to the patient flivver and started on the homeward stretch After getting off the north shore, going inland bit and travelling in souther1y direction all ways, we find ourselves in perfectly flat country. Here the aviators are in their glory. They could make a land ing at practically any spot on that part of the island and even as we go glid- ing through Mineola we behold two of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23

standing upright on the ground. It is usually inside a derrick which is often as tall as that of an oil well. A man stands weighing 12 pounds, and with this he drives the steam carrying pipe inch by inch through the earth. The steam melts the ice as it goes down and a second man stands at the bottom and twists the pipe this way and that to aid in the work. After a long time bed rock is reached and the tube Is left there for two or three days oozing forth steam.
 The tubes are so sunk that each softens the frozen earth for a radius of three or more feet around it. and these cir cles of melting six feet in diameter come together, making the whole of the ground so that it can be worked by the dredges. Hundreds of such pipes have to be sunk and all are connected by other pipes with the steam forcing plant. In places the pipes are thick that they stand out on the back of old Mother Earth like the quills on a porcupine. They soften the earth so that it is dangerous to walk over it until it has cooled The ground may seem solid, when all at once a man may drop to his knees or his waist in scalding hot mud. The work of thaW- ing is done by skilled men, some of whom receive from s7 to s10 day.
 Leaving the dredging I rode along the sides of the mountains where they were suicing down the icy sand to get out the gold Here the sun and the water alone do the thawing. After the earth is stripped off the suns rays can make their way into the strata of ice to such an extent that in one summer they will pene- trate to a distance of from six to 10 feet. The water dashng against the half frozen earth adds to the thawing, and the sand and boulders roll down in great streams. The amount sluiced away is inconceivable. There are parts of these valleys that are half filled with great sheets of white tailings. They spread out like so many glaciers, leaving here and there great caves in the hills.
 The earth thus washed down is the color of pipe clay. Some of it looks like Portland cement as 1t lies in the barrel. The sand is white quartz, and the powders and pebbles almost like slaked lime in color. The gold is most of it lying at the bottom. The sluicing tears down the hills, leaving gigantic formations, which in some places are like forts or great castles. I saw one such as big as business block of 20 stories; it covered a half square of ground. It's walls were per pendicular and al the top were spires like those of church. It was almost
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23

almost as much difference between that and Prospect park there is be- tween the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan.
 Along Eastern Parkway there are evidences of the new subway now in course of construction, which will en- able the Brooklynites to reach city hall and lower Manhattan even quick er than the uptown dweller upon the island itself. Beyond Eastern Parkway and Prospect park we run out upon Ocean Parkway, It is a wonderful driveway and the salt water air is again in evidence. There is a space for pleasure vehicles only" there is another for motorcycles and trucks and there is still another for horses and horse-drawn vehicles.
 Along this beautiful drive we roll one of thousands of automobile parties en route for Coney Island. After a day among the homes of wealth upon north ern Long Island, it seems quite a con- trast to be among the haunts of those who consider every 5-cent piece they have to part with. Yet there is not an- other Coney Island in the world. and as we approach it. beholding the wonderful. gleaming lights of Luna. though we have been here many times before. we cannot help agreeing that Coney Island has a charm that is all it's own. that is not duplicated elsewhere, and that is well worth our attention.
 Luna gleams like an electric fairyland, not far away Steeplechase park vainly attempts to vie with it, and in a very few minutes we find ourselves motoring down Coney's principal thoroughfare. tho great moonlit bosom of the Atlantic gently heaving to the left of us the thousand and one cries of the spelers all about us, the music of many instru- ments discordantly mingling and the odor of beer and hot dog on all sides.
 Coney has much that is new this sea- son. The old Eden Musee. for instance, which used to be on Twenty-third street.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23
l N
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" our, up ana DOWn brOduWdy
 caption is capszed-in a way-however, we shall adhere bravely to it. in spite of the fact that we are now about to take you with us, for half a day, through a wonder country known as Long Island. the home of wealth, beauty factories, flying machines and film companies
 And now, having announced that we are going to take you with us, we slip calmly into the past tense. for the reason that there is difference between the trip we are going to give you. and the trip we took ourselves, yesterday afternoon and evening--it is the difference between reality and imagination. However, if you are a Christian Scientist, New Thought convert, or even believer in the laws of psychic phenomena, as set down by MT. Hudson, you will enjoy it all just as much as if you were flying along in the little flivver that made possible to us the mere material joys of the journey.
 With remarkable ease. we gathered together a party that taxed the capacity of the car, and, shortly after having re- galed ourselves with light midday meal at Murray's, in Forty-second street. We sped eastward, over the great Queens borough bridge, and then north along the northern shore of Long Island, hardly ever gettting out of sight of the shark infested waters of the sound. White sails dotted it's surface always, and at less frequent intervals, the snowy sides of some multi's yacht C'private' yacht is not permissible in local lingo) threw the suns s gleam proudly back into our faces
 Soon the general impression that Long Island is flat country, was effectively dispelled by majestic hills rising at our right, with magnificent residences rear ing their towers and turrets from their crests. These were, in many instances,