davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
Plebeian Bicycle

Every time see a bicycle today I feel like running said Blanks Everett, assist ant general manager of the Chamber of Commerce Hast night as I was walking across the street, a bicycle ran into me and hurled me quite a distance on the hard, hard pavement The boy who was riding it was badly hurt himself, so there was no thought on my part of resenting his 1ntrustion. In fact, I was so badly hurt at the time that I could not have engaged In a pugilistic encounter with even the smallest youth.
 ''To be run over by a bicycle is very plebeian, anyway While I was physically discomfited by my accident, one of the most annoying features of the occurrence was the thought of being run over by a negro boy on a bicycle. A motorcycle would be bad enough, but a bicycle-that is simply beyond the pale. I had always thought that 1t would be nice to be struck by a big Pierce-Arrow limousine, pro- vided one did not get hurt. But after my experience with that bicycle, I have decided that it is not safe even to be hit by small boy on velocipede."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
Action IndOrsed

While l was defeated by large ma jority in my race for coroner, I have some consolation out of the race after all. the first to call the attention of the peo pie of the county to the injustice and un- fairness of the law limiting this office to physicians. I was responsible for the suit in the court which resulted in Judge Sharpe's ruling that the law was uncon stitutional The people of the county have indorsed my action in bringing this suit as they voted down all the physi clans who offered for the place and elect ed layman. So, after all, have some thing to console myself with, which i. more than many of the defeated candi dates can say now"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
Speedway City

The fame of Birmingham as the speedway city of the south is growing far and wide," said T. H. Blake, city passenger agent of the Illinois Gen. tral. T recently received a letter from one of our officials in Chicago ask ing for information in regard to the building of the speedway here
 Most of the leading dailies in the country have carried stories of the building of mammoth speedway in Birmingham and it was through an item in one of the Chicago dailies that the Chicago official first learned of this big project for Birmingham. The building of the speedway in Birming- ham has been a means of advertising 2 this city all over the United States
 When the Birmingham race course is completed and the first race held this city will come in for more than it's amount Of world wide publicity. The people in all the cities are talking about the Birmingham speedway, es- pecially the Atlantans. There is lit tie doubt but what this speedway will be the means of drawing larger crowds to Birmingham than any other one thing"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
A BAD EFFECT
ORDER OF THE GARTER

most excellent and renowned persons all virtues and honor, and adorned the' with that title to be knights of his ol der, giving them a garter garnished wit gold and precious stones, to wear daily o the left leg only; also klrtle, go"l cloak, chaperon. collar and other soiem and magnificent apparel.
 The Order of the Garter, therefore, wa
 devised in the time of King Edward tn
 Third, and Gas some write) upon this ot casion: The Queens majesty then hvin' being departed from his presence the ne2 day toward her lodging, he following 500 after happened to find her garter, whlc siaclSened by chance and so fell from he leg, unespied in the throng by such 9 attended upon her. His grooms and gel tlemen also passed by 1t, as disdaining stoop and take up such & trltie; but n knowing the owner, commanded one them to stay and reach 1t up to hin "Why, and like your grace" saith ger tleman, it is but some womans gartt that hath fallen from her as she followe the Queens majesty"
 Whatsoever 1t be- auoth the Kim take 1t up and give 1t me-
 So vixen he had received the garter, | said to such as stood about him: You, my masters, do make small a' count of this garter here," and therewit held it out, but, if God lend me lii | for few months, will make the prout est of you all to reverence the like.' cIa cio gave himself to the devising of this orde | Certes, I have not read of anything ths
 having had so simple beginning hat
 grown in the end to so great honor ar
 estimation.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
The School Tax Amendment

Now that the states democratic primary is over, about the only inn portant question to be decided at the general election in November is the amendment to the constitution author izing counties and school districts to vote for special tax levies for school purposes.
 Friends of education had been try ing for years to induce the legislature to submit such an amendment, but without avail until 1915, when the measure was adopted.
 The framers of the present consti- tuition evidently distrusted the people and the fact that they were not al- lowed to tax themselves for school improvement has prevented Alabama from removing illiteracy from her confines.
 With the constitution amended it will be only two or three years when there will be public school at nearly all the crossroads. But notwithstand- ing the popular favor with which the amendment should be received, an or ganized campaign will be needed to insure it's ratification at the polls. It is none too early to begin.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

From the Detroit News.
 <fIDO not regret one moment of all my
 life. have lived. And when one A has lived one does not regret. There is no time"
 The Jersey Lily smiled faintly, and | sighed even more faintly. and by the sigh 1 she gave proof that even a woman's in tuition may fail, when 1t comes to self analysis. The afternoon performance was over and Mrs. Langtry was a wee bit tired.
 She chatted idly, her voice low, deep, soft, with flowing cadence of the edu- l cated English woman. Outside the wind whipped a bit of rain, and it was dull and drab, and the flow of the city's null titudes was hurried and some way un- happy. The Jersey Lily gazed out at them and shook her head, movement as if to bring to life some gayer pictures of the days that were, and the effort was successful. Suddenly the tired woman became animated, alive; the spirit that had trodden unhampered through pitfalls strewn by jealous scores in the days of kings wooing rose to its own. And she told tales that would have delighted | Balzac.
 1 "Ah me! Those mad days!" she said. | "A country girl fresh come from the Isle 1 of Jersey thrust by freak of fortune into the heart of London's gayest. l was beautiful and now, because l am old, take no shame in so saying. They saw me. those restless seekers of beauty and l in a night I was famous. How they | flocked about me then! The titled beaux ! and the titled ladies. literary, artistic London, and that meant the literary and artistic world, sought Lily Langtry and l I hailed them as friends. On the night | of my debut the Prince of Wales and the | princess the duchess of more than one of | EngIand's proud estates, all of London came to see me and they loved me for
 what I was and what I gave them
 "A little while ago. said visitor. 1T was passing through southern Texas, and in the heart of the desert, where the
 alkali dust hung gray everywhere and l rattlers crawled on the dry bed of a
 river there was a little brown hut with a naked Mexican baby crawling on the 1 foor and nailed to the side was a sign,
 the name of the place, Langtry What i, of that?"
 The Jersey Lily smiled an1 then laughed and sighed again.
 That is page out of Bret Harte,"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
THE WOODS IN SPRING

Richard Le Gallienne in Harper's Maga-
 zine.
 Within day or two you become aware that the woods are silently filling with living presences. The curious thing about
 them is that though you may have
 thought yourself watchfuI, you have not
 been aware of their approach. Yester-
 day there was nothing but a brown car
 pet of autumn leaves. Today they are
 suddenly there.
 | Indeed, you are surprised by a curious, almost eerie feeling that you are being watched. You are being stared at by something body of miniature pres ences. You look up. It is a company of
 stealthily unfolding ferns of so imma-
 terial greenness, so delicate a blond ness, beyond all words so fresh and new
 born looking, that you are tempted to think that they exist only in your mind like the pale, spiritual flames of some seer's vision.
 Or, again, you are suddenly conscious as you pass tumble of old rocks, that | small, hooded shapes are rising out o1 the crannies, like the tiny old men, the green gnomes of fairy books. The place
 is alive with ck-in-the-pulpits. They seem to eye you furtively, and if I say
 that they give you curious little thrill of fear can hardly expect you to under stand The false Solomon s-seal, too, is everywhere, though yesterday 1t was no
 where-come- to prosperity in a night. 1 And in corners of rocky lawns youl i eyes are suddenly flashed on by a wood 1 nymph whiteness-s starry clusters O.
 bloodroot are eagerly drinking in tn, l dew and the sun. They seem almost toe pure too shyly virginal, for you to look upon.
 | The plashy margins of greenine meadow bottoms are already blue witf 1 violets, and the iris is rising out of las ] years reeds. And-you rub your eyes
 but here surely is the dogwood holding out it's silver trays of blossom. A few
 hours ago you had looked at the same 1 tree and there has been nothing ther, l but delicate green rain of budding i leaves. It is mid-April, and from now I on not merely every day, but almos every hour, brings with it new discov !, cry of old, returning loveliness.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
FavOrs Bond Issue

] That if all three bond issues are | favorabIy acted on by the voters ot | the city it will mean a tremendous stride forward for the progress of 1 Birmingham. was the opinion expressed | yesterday by Julius Jaffe, the well
 known jeweler.
 T will vote for the school, audi | torium and municipal light plant | bonds,' said MT. Jaffe. because it
 means additional growth to Birming- ham and a spur to continued pros- perity.
 "As to the school bonds. there can be very little criticism to the voting | of $2,000,0O0 for additional educational facilities as any citizen who will in vestigate the situation will soon be brought to the realization that the
 schools of Birmingham are at the present time in a deplorable condition in regard to safety and the proper housing of the pupils. "The auditorium bond issue of s500,- 900 is one that will carry by an over whelming majority and yet it is not half as important as the school bond issue Still Birmingham needs an au- ditorium and from the present trend
 of affairs we will have one in the near future.
 As to the municipal light plant, it appears to be the sentim ent locally that municipal ownership of public utilities is better for the city. The merits of this policy are seen in the
 fact that wherever municipal owner- ship has been tried it has proved 8 suc-
 cess I believe the municipal light
 plant s500.000 bond issue will carry
 by substantial majority. If all the bond issues carry it means that s3,000,0oo in capital will be
 brought into Birmingham for imm edi- :
 ate use. There is no need to dwell on
 what this means for the progress of
 the city"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
Like a Movie Plot

Many men prominent in public ll1e have been annoyed by the efforts o1 their doubles to get into the lime light, and these persons usually con- triye to have their pictures published in the newspapers occasionally, but apart from little harmless notorlety, nothing further comes from the re- semblance. Although Colonel Roose- velt's double, or Professor Iafts' might be forger and thief, there IS little likelihood of these distinguished gentlemen being arrested for a crime they did not commit. But in the more humble walks of life innocent men have had to bear the odium of crimes committed by persons who resemoled them and doubtless many tragedies have resulted from this cause, which have never been revealed.
 However, E. c. Divine, president ot the Strand Theatre company, Chicago, was more fortunate, although he mar rowly escaped a prison sentence be- cause of his resemblance to daring forger and even after being acquitted, he struggled for years to overcome the suspicion of his integrity created by his trial. He lost one position after another because of it and met with many reverses. Divine was an honest, hard working business man and had been quite successful in his ventures when he was arrested for $30,O0O forgery committed by his double Ill Boston. He was positively identified by the forger's victim and brought to trial. He established an alibl that nothing could break and was acquit- ted, although he bore remarkable resemblance to the real criminal, a man named Sargent, who operated un- der various aliases throughout the east.
 Recently Mr. Divine had the keen satisfaction of meeting his double face to face in prison, where the lat ter's crimes have at last brought him, and shadow which threatened to ruin an innocent man has been permanent ly lifted. It was happy day for the Chicago man and his family when the identity of the mysterious forger was at last established. The two men bear a startling similarity to each other. Their features are so nearly identical that hardly anyone could tell the diff ference. Except for a slight difference in height, there is no physical trait to distinguish one from the other. Ever thclr ,rannerisms are the same, but happily the resemblance ceases there Mentally they are quite unlike. One man is born criminal, the other g good citizen. Herein lies the germ oi a plot for the movies" Scenario writ. CTS, who swarm around Chicago, arc doubtless already at work on another thriller" based on the life story oi E. c. Divine.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
TO DAFFODILS

By Robert Herrick. Fair Daffodils, we weep to sec You haste away so soon: As yet the ealry-rising Sun Has not attain'd his noon.
 Stay, stay,
 Until the hasting day
 Has run
 But to the even-song; And, having pray'd together, we Will go with you along. We have short time to stay, as yc
 We have as short Spring; As quick growth to meet decay AS you, or any thing.
 We die,
 As your hours do. and dry
 Away
 Like to the Summers rain; Or as the pearls of mornings dew Ne'er to be found again.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
AMERICAS GREATEST RESORT

Kathleen Hills in Leslie's.
 It is not surprising that the passenger earnings of the railroads in the United States aggregate over $7Oo,oOo,0o0 year. Yet the volume of traffic great as it may be to any one of the notable wonder
 resorts of the country, fades into insig- nificance compared with the rush of vls- itors to the greatest city on the Amer ican continent, New York, the most pop ular all-year-round vacation resort. Some idea of the number of visitors to New York city can be gained from the startling statistics recently gathered
 In the past year, exclusive of commuters nearly 112O00,00O persons entered or left
 New York city, of which over S3,0OO,C00
 arrived or left by the five main trunk lines into the city-the Pennsylvania, New
 York Central, New Haven, the Erie and
 Lackawanna. The remaining millions used
 the smaller roads, water routes, interur-
 ban trolley lines or automobiles.
 New York offers almost everything
 which any traveller might wish to see
 Everyone who travels feels that ine must
 first visit Washington, the country's cap- ltdl, ana N6W OFky lHe lidllOn Adl 5Col
 city. The part amusements play in at
 tractng strangers to New York is enor-
 mous The great number of theatres
 many of which remain open all summer, lure thousands here for tour of the playhouses and the wealth they bring to the big city is incalculable. Wall street 1 is magnet which never fails to draw
 many sightseers to witness the activities on the stock exchange, the curb market
 and other financial gathering places. The attra ction of New York as shop ping center is second to that of no other city on the continent It boasts the largest number of great department stores of any city in the world, and thou sands of speciality shops cater to every taste in household furnishing, art ob-
 jects, personal adornment and the thou sand and one things that people want to buy. The citys canyon-like streets and the tallest buildings in the world are unique sights for strangers, and not a few attribute their first visit to the me- tropolis to a desire to see the big build ings.
 The ocean front of the New York dis trict, with its many attractive beaches, has no rival the world over.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
LOST HIS MONEY.

'Do you suppose this melancholy indl- vidual is a defeated candidate?"
 His plight is worse than that"
 'Indeed?"
 ''Yes. He consulted the candidates in placing his bets, instead of the sovereign voters"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
HOTEL LOBBIES
Country Merchants Buying Freely


 q have just returned from trip through part of Georgia and all of south- ern Alabama and have been very sue cessful in booking orders from the mer- chants in the large towns and in the country stores" said Hugh M. Brown, the well known shoe salesman
 The advancing price of shoes has greatly stimulated the trade and made merchants buy more freely than usual
 The cotton acreage in Alabama will total as much this year as in 1915; prob ably more. In few localities very little cotton has been planted but in others the acreage is increased.
 Crop diversification is still in vogue but it is not as extensive as l would like to see it. There has been marked prog ress in the raising of live stock. Some of the finest hogs in the United States are now found in Alabama"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
WISE EDDIE

From the Memphis News-Scimitar.
 Aunt Hetty Green had fainting spt the other day, and no doctor being abol' her dutiful son, Eddie. prescribed a stl hot toddy for the old lady, which brougl her about and enabled her to return her desk in a few hours. No one nel tell Eddie the virtues of a hot todd He knows.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
A MYSTERY.

"Do you believe in the theory of evolu- tion?"
 "Well" replied the student of human nature, there are times when l wonder how some people can stand and watch the antics of a cage full of monkeys without showing the slightest trace of self consciousness.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
LIST A REMINDER

From the Chicago Herald.
 It is worth remark that James Russell Lowell referred to Virginia as the mother of states and undimnished mem before Congressman Hay had arrived prominently on the scene.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
\ LIGHT occUPATIoN

From the New York Telegram.
 Sir James Dewar in the laboratory of the Royal Institution in London has just blown q soap bubble that lasted 37 days. And they think those people are worrying about the war.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
SURE.

Do you think we need new national anthem?
 whats the matter with the old one?" Nobody seems to remember the words. Now, if we had a song all the vaudeville artists would sing, we couldn't help learn ing it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES
APPRECIATION,

AHH hBClA iN'AN' There's nothing like A little breeze To cool ones brow And stir the trees, And dissipate
 The sultry waves Still rising from
 The city paves. Thrice grateful when The day is hot And mortals seek A shady spot, And fain would duaif The foaming brew, Which here they're not Allowed to do.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

Recent photographs of the Sussex, submarine commander who torpedoed the vessel thoroughly understood his busi- ness
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

The Washington correspondent who nearly lost his life in a hydroaeroplane has probably had enough excitement of that sort to last him a while.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

Premier Asquith no sooner emerses from one governmental crisis than he is plunged into another. There is a man who earns almost as much money in the course of F months as Charley Chaplin
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

If Germany has made concessions to the United States for the sake of policy, that means the Teutons will love us even less than before.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
THE SAME OLD STORY.

The tireless campaigner
 Will often be met. He's quite an eXplainer
 Of problems, and yet. Sometimes he impresses
 The voter as one Whose lucid addresses,
 When all's said and done, Have only one meaning,
 As plain as can be, Whatever his leaning,
 And that's Vote for me-"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

Germany has promised to make it's sub marine commanders behave, but the tire less Teut conspirator will continue his ef- forts to blow up ships in American har-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
BEGINNING THE DAY-Grant

BEULNNTNW
 me. o Lord, to have my foundanons right in the building of this uaS' HeIp me to build permanentiy' Teach me to go deep until | snah rest nay structure on the rock' Mas my life not be tOp-heavy' uns'an,e' unfit for the storm, afraid or shitt- ing sand. For Christ's sake' Aneh' H. M. E.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

Bostonians have not permitted the cele- bration of Shakespeares tercentenary to interfere with the fight on Brandeis' con- firma ton.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13
NOT ENOUGH TO NOTICE

From the St. Louis Globe Democrat.
 President Wilson attended the cir GUS, but every glance at the elephant made him sad.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

The British seem confident that they in East Africa. still, the British have not established very high batting average in this war.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

German editors consider the tone of President Wilson's last note unnecessarily severe. He. had to do something to con vince the Kaiser that he was not joking.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

Renewed activity among Lost Cause" poets heralds the opening of the Confed- crate Veterans reunion in Birmingham next week
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

Evidence accumulates that Dr. Von Bethmann- Hollweg can see further than two inches beyond his nose.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

Part of the 1916 crop of Palm Beach suits are now making their first trip through southern laundries.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

From the Kansas City Star.
 The most graphic picture of Eliza
 bethan England is said to be found in
 Holinshed's Chronicles, published In
 1577, which afforded most of the ma
 terial for Shakespeare's historical
 plays. The Chronicles set out the story
 of England, Scotland and Ireland, and
 that of England was written by Will
 liam Harrison, afterward canon of
 Windsor. From an edition of Harri-
 sons work which appeared in 1876 un-
 der the auspices of the New Shake
 speare society, the following is taken: |T/ NIGHTS be not born neither is any N man knight by succession,5 no, | \ not the king or prince; but they are made either before the battle to en- courage them the more to adventure and try their manhood; or after the battle ended, as an advancement for their cour- age and prowess already showed
 At the coronation of a king or queen, there be other knights, made with longer and more curious ceremonies, called Knights of the Bath" But, howsoever one be dubbed or made knight, his wife is by and by called Madam" or Lady so well as the baron's wife; he himself having added to his name in common ap- pellation this syllable Sir which is the title whereby we call our knights in Eng. land.
 The other order of knighthood in Eng land, and the most honorable, is that ol the garter, instituted by King Edward the Third, who invented this SO ciety of honor and made a choice out o1 his own realm and dominions, ant throughout all Christendom of the best,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

The high price of gasoline is being acutely felt by the multitude of Ford owners in Kansas.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-13

General Scott's failure to adjust mat ters with Obregon should not be held against him. Diplomacy is wasted on the MeXicans.