davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
ROMANCE OF WHALING

tions of their front yard And Lord how they hated steamer! Their occu- patton was dwinding. Whales got scarce. Mineral and gas oils crowded out whale oil. Rubber and steel usurped the place of whalebone.
 We are reminded of the old and the new whaling by Review of the Whale Fishing Industry in the annual report of the New York Chamber of Commerce. The New England whale fisheries were at their height in 1S40, when 6S0 whalers were registered. In 1914 the number had fal- len to 32. The banner year" of Amer
 can whaling was 1S54,a when the tonnage was 19S,594. Our total merchant marine tonnage was then about 100000 There was about one ton of whaling to 20 tons of merchant shipping. June 30 1915, the merchant marine tonnage was S,3S9, 429, the whaling SS20, ton to a thousand. Mel ancholy figures. In 1S46 the whaling was 3S, 833. New Bedford alone had 31,000 tons. By 1890 the tonnage had been cut in half. In 25 years it has been cut in half again. New Bedford, devoted to the sperm whale alone, has IA whalers. The price of sperm oil has risen 10 cents a gallon in the year, whereas the price of whale oil, especially of the Pacific product, the oil of the Humpback, Finback, and Sulphur Bottom-S6 feet long. sometimes, this chap which yield a high percentage some times as much as IA per cent of glycerine, an ingredient of explosives, has risen 50 per cent.
 Other times, other whalers. None the less, ghosts of old whaling captains, Cof- fins, Mayhews, Macys, Starbucks. affec- tionately we salute you!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
No Campaign Excitement

q have never known presidential year that was so quiet politically as this, and I have been a voter since 1SS0,' said Joseph N Arnold of Boston.
 "The campaign is to be later than usual in starting, and the public welcomes that fact, and it is an agreeable surprise to many people, no doubt, that little or no derogatory talk about the candidates is heard In travelling on the trainssI ls- ten to men discussing the presidential outlook, and I have yet to hear a bitter word spoken against either MT. Hughes or President Wilson. A good many ex- press preference for Hughes, because he is the standard bearer of the repub- lican party. and great many declare themselves strongly in favor of Wilson; but everybody with whom I have talked holds both of the candidates in high es- teem.
 T am a republican, but in 1912 my vote was cast for Roosevelt. This year I ex- pect to vote for MT. Hughes. As to which ticket will win I am not enough of 6 prophet to venture a prediction. But I am like good many of my acquaintances
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12

From the New York Times.
 TIT is a good time, though any time is
 good, to read again Herman Melville's
 1- "Moby Dick" and chase with him the White Whale. Stern all!' yells the
 husky boat-steerer in the bow, as he
 hurls the harpoon, terribly. The line runs like lightning out of the tub as the struck whale submarines. Keep pouring
 water on the line, or it will burn the boat Our cetaceous friend is excited.
 Give him more rope. another line, ond still another, perhaps. He Is stayer. big and vicious fellow, good for night on a quarter of a mile of line. Well, ne
 Is fast to the side chains at last, provided
 he hasn't shown too much temperament
 and smashed a boat or two. Out with your spades, you lubbers. and work for your share, your lay in this and other
 hard earned increment of the voyage, your one-hundred-and-ffti or what ever it is, of the proceeds. What did the ca bin boy get, that favorite of ancient readers of whalers' yarns? A part small, like himself, but worth working for. Not everybody can be supercargo Of an India
 man, another romantic character of re- mote youths with saline ambitions.
 At this point blubber asserts itself too
 strongly The sights and smells are not highly aesthetic. Still, would it ever fall to a cabin boys lot to go into the whales mouth, collecting whalebone? Probably not but what joy to sedentary youth to read of four-year whaling voyages. There she blows is a surviving watch word. And whaling is not all grease and
 blubber- stripping and trying out Some times you anchor off enchanted islands of the South seas. You make the ac-
 uuantance sometimes you get an interior view, of cannibals. Salt horse is super
 seded by wild bananas and baked bread fruit. Choirs of laughing nympns, , crowned with hibiscus flowers, give you a
 cabaret show among the tall gray trunks of cocoanut palms. Even a whaler's life 1 las it's beer and skittes and poi.
 | But we are too far away from Nantuck-
 ct, which, somehow, seems the heart of | the whaling country, if we may say so 1 without injustice to Marthas Vineyard or to America" as the Nantucketers call | Cape Cod and the Massachusetts main-
 land, It's just little more than 200 years | ago that Kit Hussey of Nantucket har-
 pooned sperm whale off the island. The | seventeenth century, and the eighteenth
 century whalers up to about it's middle,
 whale from the beach in boats. The whale was their sole game til! after Kits day,
 and somewhere about 1750 they began to
 perambuate the ocean stream in ships and
 followed the whale toward the ultimate
 pole south and north. Nantucket's glo-ies passed to New Bedford. New London has
 it's prosperous whaling days. All the old whaling ports, and many an interior
 town of the Cape. still keep "reminiscences
 of this sea hunting. The old race of
 whaling captains is gone. They walked | the sand as if it were a quarter deck. lSpyglass to eye, they searched the sea
 from their cupola observation platforms ] atop of their houses. Spoils of marine
 venerie. great ribs of whale were decoia-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12

of the long "hobble' skirts to the fuller and shorter garment now in vogue There are perils in every style. The sights which shock the teachers are not always pleasurable. Wainwright's excuse for poisoning his sister-in-law was that she had such thick anllles-an excuse which may be accepted aesthetically if not mor- ally. No fashion could be invented which would be becoming to every woman. Of course the ladies of Kansas are not moved by personal considerations in their detestation of displays of silsen hose. Take my daughters, all of whom are beauties" Major General Stanley gra- ciousy told the pirates who turned out to be noblemen gone Wrong. His pater- nal partiality is by no means uncommon. To the eye of admiration there Is nothing ugly. The beloved one is transfgured by the light that never was on sea or land. Titania fell victim so the charms of Bottom the weaver.
 And why should rice powder be so bit- terly condemned? Where is the immod- esty. or immortality in first aid to the complexion? The bearing of this obser- vation lies in the application of it; the powder must be judiciously put on, or the whole effect is spoiled. Minimum ne crede colori; we cannot always tell what is na- ture and what is art. The unskilful hand is an offense to taste; it may even justify the suspicion which Ben Jonson para phrased from Petroius: ett Still, to be powdered, still perfumed, Lady, it is to be presumed,
 Though arts hid causes are not found, '
 All is not sweet, all Is not sound''
 Powder, sisters, powder with care, but not in the presence of the spectator. nor too often in private. There can be too much of a good thing.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
Dauphin Island Escapes

J. M. Dewberry, president of the Tide water Securities corporation of Mobile, calls attention to the slight damage on Tt confirms the islands reputation as a point of safety" he says, mot only as a landlocled harbor but as a resi- dential location"
 In the course of an article on the sub ject the Mobile Register says:
 All buildings of the Dauphin Island Improvement company, the hotel, stores, on the south beach, are safe.
 "The launches Ruth, Norma, Ina May. CGbenola, at Dauphin Island, all escaped. All docks and wharves escaped damage, The pavilion at the head of the dock remains intact.
 The wind was blowing 95 miles an hour when the wind recorder was blown away. and it is estimated that the maximum velocity at Dauphin Island was between 110 and 115 miles an hour.
 The reason given for the slight dam age at Dauphin Island is .the peculiar location of the island. The natural con- ditions are such that it is impossible for the water to pile up on the island. The contour is such that the water slides away as if from a ducks back.
 There was no damage by water and the only loss sustained was through action of the wind. Those houses that sustained damage were of old con- structon."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
TypHOJD BIRMINGHAM

From the Montgomery Advertiser.
 We find no pleasure in passing along ugly news, but we do it as a duty. Birmingham just now Is troubled with an epidemic of typhoid. more than 10J cases having been reported to date. 4, government typhoid expert has been detailed to take charge of the situ- ation and will soon be engaged in his work
 No town in abama should permit typhoid epidemic to plauge it's people. Formerly we knew little or nothing of typhoid. Now we know everything that is necessary to protect ourselves from it. We know that typhoid is a filth disease that spreads more cas- fly in warm clma tes. We know that by keeping our food. drink and prem ises clean. if there is no other unclean source from which infection comes, we should have no typhoid.
 We know that modern sanitary methods made the Panama canal zone inhabitable, a place where fever has been put down.
 We know that two years ago Amer ican sanitary methods cleaned up Vera Cruz on the Gulf of Mexico and made it fit for human beings to live in.
 Yet, now and again we permit ty phoid to attack our people in enlight. ened communities. This is the price we pay for not killing the house fly, for not keeping food and water and milk pure and clean. for not making 0 community sanitary.
 
 to be lasting warning to other com munities in Alabama. Typhoid is one menace to life that is not necessary
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
All Looked Alike

Tt was the right flivver, but the wrong owner," said County Detective Garth yesterday in telling about making a slight mistake in the matter of flivvers the other day My friend, John Maynor, who has an office in the First National Bank building, has been in the habit of letting me have his Ford runabout to chase out on calls, so the other day while it was raining I had occasion to uAajSe a little trip out to West End, eNd called my friend up and asked the loan of his car. Sure said he; it's over in front of Vim berly & Thomas'-help yourself Myself and friend went over and got in Ford runabout, made the trip, came back and left the car I went up and thanked my friend for his car and went back to the office.
 Imagine my surprise when I learned that we had used the wrong mans car and a description had been sent to the police headquarters and a request made arrest whoever had the car. It was just like Maynor's. There was no number on neither car. We were not arrested, however, but explained the whole matter to everyones satisfaction. All flivvers look alike to me unless they are tagged
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
Go to Gndsden


 Every man who believes in seeing America first ought to go to Gadsden this week and have a look at Noccalulu Falls" said w. G. Bellenger, mayor of Gadsden who was in Birmingham yester- day. Black Creek Falls, or Noccalulu Falls, has always been considered one of the show places of the state, but with the unprecedented volume of water which is now pouring over the bluff, it makes a scene which is well worth the trouble of any man in the state seeing.
 ''The falls are located less than three miles from Gadsden and there Is vol ume of water flowing over them now that is unrivalled by any falls in this section of the country. Noccalulu Falls drops 90 feet and due to the beautiful typogra- phy of the country, it makes one of the most attractive scenes in the United States. People in Alabama are travelling a thousand miles to see scenes no more beautiful than Noccalulu Falls now"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
From Age-Herald Files

Monday, July Il, 1S9S-Deadly malarial fever runs riot in the ranks of the United States troops in trenches before Santiago and dread yellow jack threatens.
 Secretary Alger receives word from General Shafter that General Toral re- fuses to surrender Santiago. "Bombard- ment by the army and navy will begin as near p. m. as possible concludes the message.
 Sunday was day of thanksgiving and prayer in Washington. Thanks were re- turned to God for the success of the American arms and speedy consumma- ton of peace was asked for.
 Admiral CerVera, commander of the de- stroyed Spanish fleet, has arrived at Portsmouth N. H., a prisoner of war. He is confined to his cabin by a slight in disposition.
 Gen. Martinez Campos of Spain says 1t is impossible to think of peace at this time
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
HOTEL LOBBIES
Destroying Typhoid

The city of Birmingham is doing every thing possible to destroy typhoid germs, '' said City Health Officer Dr. Cecil D. Gaston yesterday.
 Besides giving free typhoid vaccine, 10 policemen are furnished to the sanitary department. These officers are assigned to certain territories, and make it their business to go around and see that all premises are kept in a sanitary condition, and if not the guilty parties are placed under arrest, and are subject to a heavy fine in recorders court upon conviction"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
SILK HOSE AND POWDER

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
 Down with displays of silken hosei
 Down with rice powder all over the nosei" NUCH is the cry of the teachers who
 have come to New York to discuss A~ matters of great moment. The sentiment is as deplorable as the poetry It is strongest among the delegates from Kansas, the state of experts in immod- esty Even nature is under suspicion there. No Kansan, it is safe to say, would approve the old German couplet to the ef- feet that modesty is an ornament, but people get on better without it. Why cannot be be more natural?" was the plaintive question of Mrs Skewton, who herself used much more than rice powder for beautifying purposes. The stern re- formers of women's dress will not toler- ate any fashion that approaches a re- turn to nature. The human anatomy is peculiarly indelicate. But, ma'am, we know it's there,' said George Sampson, when Mrs. Wilfer reproved him for re- ferring to a petticoat. We cannot help knowing that the silk stockings are there, but we mustn't see them. When Janet "kited her braid kirtle little abune her knee" she was shameless hussy. In the days of the balladists life was simpler and the primitive instincts were not under suspicion.
 How do the women dress in Kansas if the fashions of the east so amaze and dismay them? Are they still wearing the skirts that trail the ground? Do they tolerate the germs of disease in order to cultivate the germs of virtue? The mod est dress, after all, is the dress we are used to- It would be difficult to convince mere man, at any rate, of the superiority
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
WHAT GIRLS LAUGH AT
l the Kansas City Star.

-tIIG NdIISetS OIty otdI.
 It was perfectly killing, whatever it was. The fat one with the blue skirt shook with suppressed mirth, the tall one stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth and the blonde fairly shrieked with laughter And not until they had finished their sundaes and paid the check could the tall one compose herself long enough to tell what had set them off. Well, it seems a man came into the store and took a seat over by the soda foun- tain. He was singing Brighten the Cor ner' softly to himself. And so engrossed was he in the song that the waiter had to ask him the third time what he wanted to drink.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
No LrNoTYPERs IN SING SING

From the Portland Oregonian.
 It will surprise some but not those who know the craft, to be informed that among all the vast company that inhabit Sing Sing prison, of New York's big lententiaries, there is not single Mer- genthaler operator. or linotyper of any other sort This is more than could be said of good many other trades-or even professions, for that matter-for Sing Sing is noted for it's democratic at mosphere and it forbids no one entrance within its walls because of the nature of his previous employment.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
THE TERROR OF DEATH

BycKeats. When have fears that may cease to Before my pen has gleand my teemii
 brain, Before high-piled books, in charact'ry Hold like rich gamers the full-ripen
 grain; When behold, upon the nights starx
 face, Ast Huge cloudy symbols of a high roman{ And think that I may never live to Their shadows, with the magic ham
 chance. And when I feel, fair Creature q
 hour! That I shall never look upon thee m Never have relish in the faery DOW Of unreflecting love-then on the s1nf Of the wide world stand a'o4
 think Till Love, and Fame to nothing}
 sink. Owe
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
A CONFIRMED PEss1MIsT.

"I never hear you discussing the weather"
 Whats the use?" asked the melancholy man. Every time it rains somebody steals my umbrella and every time the sun comes out get ink spots on my Palm Beach suit and have to send it to the cleaner"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES
SOMEONE PAYS.

Who fain would live life of ease. In summer loll beneath the trees, In winter toast before a fire And never know what t means to tire, May have his wish and joyous be, From all this old worlds troubles free. But someone has to do the work, The sluggard's not ashamed to shirk.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
PRECOCITY.

"Mercy!' exclaimed Mrs. Diggs 'The baby is chewing on your pocket edition of Epictetus.''
 Indeed" replied Professor Diggs with a proud and happy look. Let the child alone. It is seldom that mere infant shows such pronounced taste for the classics"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
IN WETTEST ALABAMA

From the Savannah News.
 That exceedingly dry Alabama legisla- ture must have felt some sensations of alarm on hearing that the Gulf of Mexi- co was sweeping into the Birmingham district.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12

no matter whether Hughes or Wilson is elected The fact is that MT. Wilson has made us an excellent President, and nothing but sentiment will carry consid- erable per cent of the electorate to Hughes"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
MILITIA ODDITIES
I the Chicago Herald.

From the ChicaBO HeraId.
 So anxious to get to the front were the First infantry boys of Baltimore that they didn't wait for Uncle Sam to fur nish them transportation but went ahead and chartered Pullmans. Now they won- der if the war department will stand - Pullman fares.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
A. SPLENDID POSE.

How would you like to be the captain of a submarine liner?'
 ''The idea doesn't appeal to me at all," answered the man who is fond of display.
 well. why not?"
 For me half the fun of being the cap tain of an ocean liner would be to stand on the bridge and sweep the sea with my glasses in full view of hundreds of admir- ing passengers scattered about on the up- per deck.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12

lar liking for their long time associate, the G. o. F., many representative if nanciers and representative business men are now quick to admit that President Wilson's administration has been a distinct success and that his legislative programme, most of which has already been enacted into law, has never been surpassed and seldom equaled in the way of practical good.
 The democrats have made indeed a great record. No republican cam- paigner can honestly or successfully assail it. A mere recital of the large legislative measures adopted should be enough to convince any intelligent, fair minded man that the democrats of today are not only eXemplars of business statesmanship, but are the true conservators of the nations veal. The record should tell in November.
 *
 Mir. Hearst says his attitude toward Mexico is identical with his attitude toward Cuba before the Spanish-Ameri- can war, and he had no property in Cuba. But try as he may, that Hearst ranch simply will not down.
 Capt. Koenig of the Deutschland says it requires too much imagination to read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the nothing on Capt. Koenig of the Deutsch- land.
 Rooms rent for as low as 15 cents a week in Amsterdam's Ghetto, but in comparison with such quarters, the aver age flop house. in the United States is the acme of luxury.
 Dr. Jordan says there are a number of peaceful states in Mexico. If so they ought to employ press agents to keep themselves in the public eye They are being overlooked.
 The British public is warned not to expect a rapid advance against the Ger mans. The Teuts are doing their best war experts.
 We are told it is too early yet for Zep- peins to cross the ocean. And this de- cision is not due to the watchful wait ing of the allies cruisers.
 There is still a shortage of aeroplanes along the Mexican border, but Uncle Sam's machine guns are believed to be in good working order
 MT. Wilson says he knows some rascals he has tried to hate, but has been un- able to hate them. Must be engaging rascals.
 Well may the Teuts be astonished by the success of the Russian offensive The Russians are probably astonished them selves.
 The defeat of MT. "One Punch" Hogan indicates that he didn't have it with him during his recent bout in New Orleans.
 According to custom, cities are feminine and Birmingham is in no position just now to buy herself a rope of pearls.
 Time was when butt in'' was regarded as slang-but the President uses it now.
 Sir Roger Easement comes from an eccentric family. Judged by his recent actions, he hasn't come very far.
 The rain stopped just when a few old fashioned people were seriously thinking about building an ark.
 Peace seems to be popular in Detroit. Henry Ford has a strangle hold on that town.
 Better three shots in the arm than six weeks in bed. Do It now
 
 GOOD WORD FOR HUSBAND From the Youngstown Telegram
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
DIFFERENT NOW.

A shocking sight it used to be
 When on the stage we chanced to see A shapely dancers dimpled knee. But nowadays we're used to that. A girly show seems rather flat Without exposing some anat.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12

One can buy copy of a Spanish gram mar in Texas border towns for song. Northern guardsmen find that senoritasl are scarce and the few talk plain Eng4 fish. Hence Spanish scholars are fewe& than they were on transport trains
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
MOST RARE.

"Dubwaite is the most consistent pa- cifist I ever saw.'
 What makes you think so?"
 Why, he won't even quarrel when he's reasonably sure to get the best of it."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12

RECINfING THE DAY-O, Lord, stop me EefOre l go too Tar HI any xxronr cdurse that I may be pur- suing. Let me not hurt my iie De- yond repbir; let me not inJure i"S kbrother Beyond redress. stay my I'd staYtIe me: Help me to con-
 end. Help me to submit
 hee again. For Christ's
 nen.-H. M. E.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12

Shower baths are pretty scarce along the border, but this doesn't bother the boys of the Seventy-first New York regi- ment. Soap in hand. they have refreshed their bodies in a downpour of rain.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-12
COUNTING THE COST.

This poet says love is all in all" That's the poetical view of life." an- swered the practical person.
 "Yes?"
 Married life is 50 per cent love and 50 per cent upkeep.'