davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
SCORE ONE FOR THE NAVY

l From the Cincinnati Times-Star. | It is good news to the nation that | peace has been declared, outwardly at 1 least, between Rear Admiral Fiske and Secretary of the Navy Daniels. The en- gagement has been terminated through
 the unexpected diplomacy of the admin | istration pacifists.
 | The trouble between the admiral and the secretary arose over a certain report on the state of the navy written by the salt water sailor to the swivel chair sea lord. In that letter the admiral uncov-
 cred some unpreparedness truths with a disturbing franllness.
 The secretary later denied that he had
 seen the report. The admiral advanced in his strongest battle formation and de-
 clared that he had not only personally handed the letter to the secretary, but had read it to him as well. The secre-
 tary raised what amounted to a direct issue of veracity.
 Without going into detail as to the
 roundabout method in which the matter
 was brought to a settlement, it can be said that the President forwarded to the secretary a statement of Admiral Fiske S position sent to the White House by the
 American Defense society. The secretary
 evidently understood that an easy way out
 had been opened to him. He wrote the
 President that he had mo recollection"
 of having seen the letter in the mass of
 official documents, but that 'inasmuch as Admiral F'iske states that he did show it to me. l, of course, accept his state
 ment.''
 This ends the matter and leaves the admiral the moral victor in a battle which Secretary Daniels might easily have prevented by frankness and tact. His tardy acceptance of the word of an officer and a gentleman makes his prior rejection of that word stand out as an act of ill-humored obstinacy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
THE FAMILY GROCER

frOIn the Kansas Clty star.
 A grocer and his clerks write the Star asking: Cannot the citizens of Kansas City help the groceryman and his clerks :? We want a half holiday one day a week. Our hours are from 6:30 o'clock in the morning until o'clock at night and until 9 o'clock Saturday nights"
 If the grocers of this city want half holiday each week during the summer months it would appear unreasonable in the public to object, when one reflects what the grocery store is to every com munity of which his store is the center. The grocer Is patient long suffering accommodating, cheerful, good hearted charitably minded citizen. He has be- come a public institution. He furnishes without grumbling, free telephone service messenger service and relief in emergen. cies. He trusts you when you are 'broke" and even lends you money to tide you over the '1ean" days.
 Did you ever spend a few minutes in the store and hear the grocer at his tele- phone? Almost any other man would lose his temper and say things, but the grocer smiles as he talks:
 Yes mann, a pound of coffee; yes, mann, will send it right over"
 Whats that? Radishes? Two punches for a nickel One bunch. Yes'm, the boy will be right over with it."
 All right, MT. Brown. Yes. Whats that? You want me to send word te Mrs. Brown that you will not be home for supper, going to the lodge tonight All right, I'll send the boy down right away thank you, MT. Brown"
 Yes. Mrs. Emith One of the tomatoes in the dozen was spoiled? All right Mrs. Smith, I'll send another down al once, Thank you" And so it goes all day.
 We might do without policemen. with out firemen, hospitals and things of that kind, but how could we do without the grocer? And now, if he wants a half holiday for rest in the middle oi the week, why here's hoping that he will take it, and enjoy it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
AyOndaIe Meeting

We are having a great meeting out at Avondale said Rev. w. E. Lockler pastor of Packer Memorial Baptist church in Avondale. who is conducting a revival under canvas. "The tent is crowded at every service, and by hav- ing the meeting in tent and near the cotton mill village. we get much larger crowds than if it were being held in the church.
 q recently resigned as pastor of the Avondale church to go into the evan gelistic work for a few months. I don t know how long I'll follow this work. probably not more than a few months. I have the offer of three good churches in south Alabama, but have rot de- cided to take any of the offers. l have had a very successful year, both as pastor of my church and as a student at Howard college, and regret that I must leave Birmingham
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
Murdering the Kings English

The English department at Montevallo is making special efforts this summer in a campaign of education to secure more correct English in the everyday inter- corse of the shop and street. An experi- ment is soon to be tried in two or three of the big Birmingham stores to impress upon the clerks who are meeting people every day the importance of using cor rect English. One man yesterday called attention to the fact that it would be a source of inspiration to those working in this cause and would spur them to renewed effort to hear a conductor on the Edgewood line. City transfers are good on this line only to the crest of Red mountain, and here is the oratorical out burst that informed loaded car of the fact Sunday afternoon:
 Transfer limit Transfers is rode ont '
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
Stock Market Barometer

Now that the republicans have nominated Hughes, regarded with high favor by large part of the busi- ness world, and the democrats are about to renominate President Wilson by exclamation, buoyancy is the rule again in New York's financial district.
 The stock market, pretty safe business barometer, showed rallying signs Saturday. United States Steel common closed at higher price than it had sold for since March IS, and on yesterday it made a new record, closing at 87 1-S.
 There was broad trading and most railroad shares were in demand at an advance. It is the general belief among financiers that the market will continue to climb for higher levels, and that the stock exchange will be the center of a healthy activity throughout the summer.
 It used to be that all classes of busi- ness took rest from early in July until the middle of SeNtember. The stock market had to cor osnt itself by marking time, and jobbing trade was ct a standstill during the greater part of the summer. But conditions have changed. Within the past twenty years some of the most solid booms
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13

From the Providence Journal.
 Up to the first of June, fable sea- men" have been certified to the num- ben of 20,67S, under the LaFollette law requiring such certification after ment on American vessels of 100 gross tons or over, except those navigating rivers exclusively. or the small inland lakes, and on fishing of whaling ves- sells, or yachts.
 A report of the steamboat inspection service shows the nationalities of these qualified American seamen. The Ameri- can born number 6302; naturalized 2165. The remaining 12,000 or so are both of foreign birth and foreign na- tionality. Included in the native Americans are Hawaiians-first-rate sailor material employed largely on the Pacific side-and Porto Ricans. Prob ably, few of the old New England breed are in this census, though there are many of them in our fishing fleet. The Norwegans, of course, are the most numerous among the alien A Bs |-271S of. them. Russians or Films, Swedes, British and Germans follow in order, above 1000 certificates each. But,
 practically every country on earth is represented. There are 22 turks. 10
 Roumanians, and three, severally, Ser vians, Montenegrins and Bulgarians. More strange is the showing of Swiss sailors, 39 of them. They perhaps ac- quired their sea strain from a French or Italian ancestry.
 In our maritime industry thus the cosmopolitan character of the nation is reflected Men who follow the sea
 are apt to be, international. anyway ] partaking of spirit of fellowship un- known to shore people. The deep blue | is a great dissolver of hyphens.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
THE LURE OF FOOTLIGHTs

New York Cor Pittsburg Dlspatch.
 'Th estage struck girl is curious study" observed Lew Fields. who is con- vulsing audiences at the Shubert theatre in Step This Way When she ceases to be a study she is a terror. She makes the life of the manager of sore distress. Moreover, she drives her friends and rel atives to the brink of destruction If not to drink It is strangely the case that the stage struck girl has often been passed up in the matter of female pulchritude. Good looks count for much on the stage, yet, sad to relate, the the atrical lightning usually strikes the homely girl. But that fact can only be vouched for by the manager who has had to refuse her positions. Wet the stage struck girl usually thinks she has the Queen of Sheba put to sleep. Sure'y their mirrors must hang awry. Almost every one of them harbor notions too ridiculous to relate. When you insnuate to a stage struck girl that the life of an acrtess is beset with years of hard ship and struggle. she not only disbe-
 ieyes you, but accuses you of being in conspiracy to ruin the career of an in- spired actress. If ever I am rich enough shall establish home for stage struck girls where three times day they would be forced into watching each other act" :"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
Music With Pictures

Another innovation in the motion pie tnre business and one which IS adding much 10 the pleasure of the patrons is the music which is being furnished with all the high class pictures now" said E. H. Colley, manager of the Rialto, Trianon and Princess theatres "The mo- ton picture makers send us the proper music to be played with all our good pictures while the scenes are being flashed on the screen. This has an at most unconscious effect on the patron, but it adds much to the setting and makes the entire affair much more realistic. Everyone has noticed that at times some comic scene would be flashed on the screen while the music being rlayed was of an entirely different type. This inno- vation is just one of the many improve ments being made in the motion picture business, and shows how the producers are constantly working to make the screen present stronger appeal to it's patrons"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
HOOsIER POET IN MOVIE

From the Indianapolis News.
 James Whitcomb Riley has posed for the movies
 The picture was made under the direc- tion of the Indiana historical commits sion.
 When MT. Riley returned from his morning motor car ride at 10 o'clock he found his beloved Lockerbe street occu- pied by a battery of cameras, still and movie" all ready to participate in the making ofsa historical picture He also found small army of children from homes where the poet is known as a friend.
 The picture was made in the lawn of Mr. Riley's home in I-ockerbe street, He was seated in an easy chair and the children were grouped about him by the director In his lap the poet held his little pet dog, Lockerbie.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
Joseph Jackson in the Philadelphia Pub

'oeepH Jdckson Tn the Pnlladelphla Pub- l lie Ledger.
 | A PROGRESSIVE and prosperous 1 "A Sunday school in Philadelphia a
 A few years ago discovered upon l investigation that there had not beer a single volume loaned from it's library | in three years This tardy investigat tior drew attention to the fact that the Sun- 1 day school book had lost it's niche in lit- erature and was gone forever.
 I heard H. P. Ford of the Presbyter- ian board of publication relate this and interviews with the editors of the Pres byterian board, the Baptist board and of the American Sunday School union bore out the contention.
 All the editors agreed that there is less and less sale for books and more and more demand for periodicals, but none of them attempted to explain this phe- nomenon. Every one agreed that the inn
 provement in taste for reading and the general increase in intelligence have
 doomed the old-fashioned library book that used to rest undisturbed on the shelves of the Sunday school library. w HdI IldS CduSGu lu6 CIdHSS QI dlLlluu6
 toward the Sunday school story book? To one who was reared on the ancient volumes or to one who has later in life dipped into them from curiosity, the passing of any of this kind of literature for the young is no cause for wonder. On the whole, they were a rather tame and spiritless lot of characters whose studied conversations and ruminations ran through these old pages. The boys and girls, judging from their remarks, their actions and their conversations were either little prigs or little hypocrites. | It is true that they were never intended | to give this impression, and it is a fact that in their time this view was not taken of these little prodigies and their manners; but, compared with the boys
 and girls of the present day, they were little products of goody-goody abora- tories, rather than of this world. | The wickedness of telling a child that there is a Santa Claus is expounded in one of the little books entitled. "Ther Sol dier's Daughter" This story bears every evidence of being of English origin. The ! soldiers daughter, Phebe-that is the way the name is spelled-is a child years old. and she has found a good 1 friend in a certain Mrs. Phelps. Here is I a sample of the tale:
 i One day Phebe came home from school and told her mother that the children said that the Christmas holidays were near, and some of the girls said she, | say that they always hang up their -l.s. r,1- nv1 I Christmas Eve, and that very little man comes down the chimney with presents l of toys and candies and picture books for good children, and puts them in their stockings
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
After an Absence of 24 Years

W. J. Dangaix who still calls Birming- ham his home and whose principal prop erty holdings are here, is back on a visit, after an absence of four years.
 While I have been spending a greater part of my time in France since retiring from active business, l am just now from Latin-America," said MT. Dangaix at the Tutwiler.
 T spent a year in South and Central America studying business conditions with a view of ascertaining how trade between the United States and espec- tally the Birmingham district and the republics south of us could be established and held. There is great deal of wealth in South America, and as for Argentina, it is one of the most enlightened and pro- gressive countries in the world. We ought to be able to develop important trade relations with both South and Gen. tral America"
 MT. Dangaix left last night for New Orleans on business, but expects to re- turn to Birmingham in few days.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
JOUR MEN.v

London.-Under the title, "Our Men, the Evening News publishes the followin poem, written by William Watson: Our men, they are our stronghold,
 Our bastioned wall unscaled, Who against hate and wrong hold
 This realm that never quailed; Who bear the noblest burden
 Life lays on shoulders broad; Asking not fame or guerdon,
 Asking not gold or laud They go where England speeds them
 They laugh and jest at fate; They go where England needs them
 And dream not they are great And oft mid smoke and smother,
 By blinding war storm famed, Sons of our mighty Mother,
 They fell that she may stand. Our sailors, save when sleeping
 The light sleep of the sea, Their ancient watch are keeping,
 Mother, for. thine and thee. They guard thy maiden daughters
 From worse than death or pain The men who ward the waters. A
 The men who man the main. When navies meet and wrestle
 And their vast arms strike home Vessel with monstrous vessel
 Matched on the flamelit foam What fleet returns in glory?
 What fleet makes haste to fly? o, sea, that knowest our story.
 Thou, thou canst best reply! Then hail to all who gave us
 Their might of arm and soul, Hot and athirst to save us. A
 Tn heal and keen t1s whole Whether they serve where wonder
 Far borrowing trenches run. Or there where the ocean thunder
 Peals with the laundering gun!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13

handling about 20 carloads of freight between Mobile and Tuscaloosa every week, and had done much to prove to the shippers of our city that the river was an asset to the business firms and in dividuals as well as to the big industrial corporations.
 T presume that the boat can be raised, and that it will soon be back in the river service. Should this prove to be impos- sible, some other boat will be found to take its place, for the people are begin ming to ship considerable amounts of freight and the volume of river traffic is constantly increasing"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
Bryan at Convention

The southern delegates and visitors to the republican and progressive conven- tions at Chicago last week did not spend as much money as did many of their wealthier associates from the other sec- tiops of the country, but few of them went through the week without making considerable purchases in the matter of wearing apparel said Robert Anderson, district passenger agent of the Illinois Central. who attended the conventions.
 Large numbers of southern delegates, de'uded by the hot weather in this sec ton when they left home, wore Palm Beach suits. straw hats and other gar ments Of the same kind. But about one day in Chicago, with a tremendous drop in the mercury, drizzling rain and sleet, was enough to make them buy new clothes, and many purchased overcoats.
 One interesting feature was the pa- rade of the suffragists through the sloppy streets with rain and sleet falling during the entire time of their march. They were watched by crowds Of curious men, and some women and children, and 1t was interesting to note the manner in which the nlarchers were received by the people along the streets.
 Probably the most striking affair of the week occurred in the progressive convection when Victor Murdock referred tu William Jennings Bryan. MT. Bryan walked on the stage to the press box just as MT. Murdock made the prediction that at St. Louis MT. Bryan and his fol- lowers would refuse to line up for the preparedness plank which the democrats would put through, and a peace party with Bryan and Ford as the heads would be launched. Bryan, in the meantime, had returned to his seat. He was rec osnized by the crowds of delegates, and there Were insistent calls for him to speak and cheers for him. MT. Brysn refused to move, nor did he indicate m any man. uer how he felt toward the demonstra- tion. Chairman Robins had the band play America and finally regained con trol of the convention. There was more or less talk of the incident around Chi cago, and some were apprehensive lest the Netraskan might do somethng at St Louis which would lead to split in the demo cratic party"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
PUTTING ON AIRS.

"A tramp called at our house this even.
 ing who must have been derelict noble.
 man." What makes you think sop Instead of asking for the usual hand- out, he said he would be eternally grate-
 full for demi-tasse and a cigarette" INDIFFERENT, PERHAPS
 The waywardness of humankind Doth make reformers weep,
 And there are many laws we find Are rather hard to keep And yet OCT this we're not inclined To lose a wink of sleep. Birmingham Age-Herald. The wayward dress of womankind
 Doth cause the prude to sigh; They wear their waists cut low, we find,
 And yet their skirts cut high. But over this we're not inclined To even bat an eye. Springfield Union. The waywardness of humankind Is unkind, we depose; With gas they make a brother blind, They smash another's nose;
 And, when good Christians are aligned They say they're one of those. Houston Post
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
AS THEY DO IN DENMARK
From the Atlanta Journal.

From the Atlanta Journal.
 In Denmark the bread Is home baked. The women spin wooen yarn which the village weaver makes into cloth, or which they knit into stockings. The women make their own dresses. Often they make clothes for their husbands and sons. The men make wooden shoes fol the family, and house furniture and farming implements. And the efficient Danes set Europe an example of intens- i've farming.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
ARrEMUs WARDS PACIFIsT

From the BOStOn ffefHIu. The bellicose speeches of certain shouters against mildeyed. flabby preach CTS of peace at any price remind us of an incident in the life of Artemus Ward.N "A few days after my return l was shown a young man. who says he'll be d. if he goes to the war. He was
 settin' on a barrel, & was indeed Loath-
 sum objeck."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL BOOK

1 Then Mrs Phelps told Prebe that this was all deception, and that there was no such person.
 "'And is it not wicked to tell them SOP asked Phebe.
 " Most certainly it is,' replied Mrs. Phelps. It is a deception for which there is little excuse as for telling any other untrue thing" l To show how deep depravity follows so I apparently innocent a deception, Mrs. i Phelps relates a story of a boy named Cyrus, whose parents set him on the downward path by such falsehood. The boy finally became addicted to story telling and, finally, could not be believed | at all.
 l "Phebe thanked Mrs. Phelps for this narrative and said, Perhaps one untrue thing which Cyrus parents told him was that Santa Claus brought presents for | good children D l Some of the little books designed for Sunday school children in the 50s made use of rhyme-one scarcely could call it l poetry-to teach the young idea lessons 1 of propriety and piety. An example of 1 this sort of thing is to be found in | very thin little book entitled Little Marian's Pilgrimage" It is needless to explain that little Marian was an extra ordinary little girl. She read from early | to late a book that could be none other than Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress,'' and l from it's pages she got the idea of start ing out for herself to duplicate, if possi- ] ble, Christians pilgrimage
 For she thought that Christian and his wife,
 | And all his children, too,
 Had left behind their pleasant homes And so she, too, must do." She manages to start off on her pil- grimage without her kind aunt's know ing it:
 "In sweet clear strains she sang hymn;
 Then trpped along her way, Till to a niry pool she came, | Through which her pathway lay. Of course this pool was nothing else | in her mind than the Slough of De- spond." Finally she is recovered by her anxious relations. One of the closing stanzas declares that the story is strange but true. It must have left strange effect upon the young minds that perused lit 60 years ago. | It should be clearly understood that | these books were not published by any one Sunday school publisher, but are l from various societies and publishers who | issued this kind of literature half cen l tury and more ago. They know better now, and such pub | lications as are issued are modern, sensi- ble and really have a stronger moral appeal, because they are comprehensible l and sane
 
 Louis convention as newspaper re-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-13
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES
MAKING THE BEST OF IT.

The man who bears lifes petty ills As if they did not matter, And does not grow, when swamped with
 bills,
 As mad as any natter, May never win to wide renown, But has one satisfaction. He knows that fell misfortunes frown Can't drive him to distraction. And when his earthly race is run And death pulls down the curtain, That he's contrived to have some fun Is reasonably certain.