davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-15

men Of tue hour-still those things win happen.
Now what want to know is. who is going to be the
man Of the hour in this Uropean unpleasantness,
which, IL seems to most all of u.s. has gone the
limmit? Urope's fife is of our immediate bizness.
but as effects the hole world in appalling sense,
it becums indirectly. at leest, bizness and it's
getting about time that halt called over There
if theere is emmy way TO do it, OF corse, mite
spill the beans by butting in too soon. Our own
Hennery Jtney tried that. He had admission to be
the man Of the hour" and a most laudbull one,
Gwen If mscaleulated, but it not yet time. Sum
man is going to step in at the rite moment and be
abul to hold up his hand to the barbwre expurts of
the old country and say seese" and they will heed
his command. That persun. whoever he may be,
will go down in history the biggest man of the
hour" of all times
May his initial apperanse in the successful roll OF
peacemaker and tranquility produser be soon The
deeth roll of Urope is liability against this sentury
that is far moor appalling than all crimes Of the
ages past Yours trooly
BILL VINES.
Washington, ID. G. a L5
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-15
UP AND DOWN BROADWAY-=By Allen Griffin johnson

If one enters one of our subway
pushed to a point about half way be-
tween the end and side doors, then
getting off at the home station is a
matter of extreme doubt, and often
worse. Many of us have ridden far
beyond home, simply because we were
unable to bulge the living, writhing
mass of people about u.s.
A similar condition of affairs exists
upon the IL lines, though this is linn
tied to a smaller space of time, in view
of the fact that many are afraid to
risk themselves on the trains that are
SO frequently stoned by the strikers.
Upon the subway lines express, or fast
trains, are running at all hours of the
day and night, while on the 'L' lines,
or so every morning and afternoon.
However, it is when the rush is great
est that most of us have to go in or
come out, go uptown, or downtown. and
therefore the suffering we undergo in
these days of more than rnere-conges
ton are just as great as if the jam
were there at all times.
The surface cars present the same
conditions to our weary gaze, and the
very elevators in most of the big build
1ngs must be carrying close to capacity
throughout the daylight hours. If the
present condition grows worse, it is
hard to guess at what we would find
ourselves doing. Already traffic is such
that many timid women have given it
up, unless they are able to ride in au-
tomobiles, while thousands of working
girls are daily going home from their
labors in the huge trucks furnished by
the people they work for
On fair and warm days-and we have
had them until very recently-it was
next to impossible to get a seat along
Riverside drive, though there are miles
of benches placed there for us; the res
taurants all run out of what you want
most long before you can get into
them; the theatres are doing capacity
business and there is no use trying to
go to any one of the 5000 or more
movies unless you go early in the aft
ernoon. or early in the evening.
We are told that New York city has
population approximating 100000
souls. That may be true, but the popu-
lation of many other cities seems to
have come to visit us, and they are re-
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-15

great fields of barley and potatoes, tho
latter now in full blossom.
The Rickert farm does large bust
ness in trucking and dollhouse farming.
supplying a great part Of Fairbanks
and shipping vegetables to the towns
and mining camps for miles around. 1t
sends green stuff to Hot Springs and
Fort Gibbon. and also to the gold mines
of the Iditarod and Ruby. The freight
rate to Ruby is $50 a ton.
The gardens of this farm cover % or
30 acres AS we walked through them
I asked as to the crops. and WAS told
that there are now in the ground 10000
cabbages 5000 stalks OF celery and some
acres OF head lettuce. The celery is espe-
cially fine, growing to a height Of four
feet Some of it was sent to Montana a
few years ago to show what Alaska
could do, and President Taft sampled it
during his trip through that state. He
declared 1t the finest he had ever tasted.
Mr.. Rickert expects to harvest this year
about q tons of turnips. five tons OF
beets and 80 tons of cabbages. AS we
went through one of the fields pulled
up cabbage and put it on the scales
in the greenhouse. 1t weighed Is pounds.
Others weigh more. Cabbages are now
worth cents a pound, and cauIiflowers
are selling at from % to rs cents a pound.
Some Of the crop is sold when it is taken
out Of the ground. The rest 10 stored
away in the cellar and marketed during
the winter.
The lighthouses are one Of the most
important parts of this farm. There
are several, each devoted to a different
crop. There is one I'D feet long that
grows melons only. including watern1el-
ons, casabas and cantaloupes. The vines
are trained upon wires running along
under the glass, and from the beds
up to the roof From these wires the
melons hang down. the heavier ones be-
ing supported by rags as though in a
sling to prevent them breaking the vines
Some of the cantaloupes are now ripe
| asked as to the price. and was told
that they sell for dollar a pound
Some Of the melons weigh four or five
pounds, which means four OF five dol
lars for cantaloupe.
Another dollhouse Is filled with toma-
toes and cucumbers, all trained upon
wires, and another is devoted to raising
green peppers such as are used for
pickles and salads. and to be eaten with
stuffing.
During my stay in the Tanana valley
I have asked the farmers and agricul-
tural experts some questions as to the
farming conditions. They are altogether
different from those of most parts of
the United States proper. Fairbanks is
more than 100 miles south of the arctic
circle, and the growing season Is short.
ranging from three to four months. and
extending in favorable sea ons perhaps II
half month longer. The last spring
frosts occur about the middle of May
and frosts begin again during the latter
part of August or first Of September.
There is really no darkness in midsum-
mer. and the long sunlight adds to the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-15

Copyright, 1916, by Frank G. Car
penter)
Fairbanks, Alaska.
81 HAVE just returned from an au-
tomobile trip through some of the
rich farming lands of the Tanana
valley. This part of Alaska
has the largest body of good soil in
the territory, and the government is
expecting an invasion of homesteaders
as soon as the railroad from Seward to
Fairbanks is completed. Much of the
land is in what is known as the Ia
mana bottom. 1t comprises tract
about 200 miles long and. in places, 70
miles wide. Altogether it is about as
big as the state of New Jersey, and it's
cultivable country Is one-fifth as large
as the state of Ohio. My journey today
was through a rolling region as beau
tiful as the Pennsylvania foothills OF
the Alleghenies. The land rises from
the river and gently slopes to the
mountains, which are far off In the
distance.
AS we rode up the valley it was diff
ficult to realize that we We're on the
border of arctic Alaska. The Their
mometer was at 80 degrees in the
shade. There was no snow on the tops
of the mountains, and the hills and
valleys were covered with green. AT
times we passed through plains spot
ted with wild flowers. There were beds
OF buttercups as yellow as gold, and
daisies as pink as the cheeks of baby.
In some places the ground was covered
with BURBERRY bushes, the Irult as
large as cherries and loaded with juice
Now we passed through forests OF
birch, spruce and cottonwood some
OF the trees We're two feet in diameter.
Where the woods had been cut OF
burned away there were vast expanses
of flaming pink flowers as high as the
wheels of the car and everywhere the
roadside was hedged with green grass
and redtop that reached to the hubs.
Now and then we went over corduroy,
our automobile bouncing high under
the fast driving Of the Jehu of this
northern frontier.
We passed many small farms cut out
of the woods, with oat hay and pota-
toes in blossom. We saw cattle graz
ing and by and by came to the expert
ment farm which the government has
established IN the near VI ehe ldndn;l
valley, about four miles from Fair
banks. The farm is beautifully located.
1t consists of 1880 acres of gently
sloping hillsides and bottom land, STOP
ing at one side to a wide stream and
rolling thence on up. and over low
range of hills
At one end of the farm is the site re-
Gently selected for the Alaska Agrf-
cultural college. the corner stone or
which was laid in 1915. The college will
stand on a hill giving magnificent
views for so miles up and down the
Tanana valley, taking in Fairbanks and
also the blue mountains, far off In
the distance. On a bright day Mount
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-15
1.-THE MAN OF THE HOUR" I'M EURCPE-By Bill Vines

0 zlSTUR EDDITUR: In EVERY furst class
IAWI crisis theere most gennerelly arises a
UNJl man of the hour" Sum prommnint fig
ger will forge to the frunt and bid himself
up on the debres and uther assets of the occasion.
An 1ndvidue who up to the time Of crisis didn't
amount TO SO blooming much In the nayborhood will
recognize that the time has arrived for him to cum
to bat and neck large blew hole into things in gem
nerel and establish himself securely as a historick
charactur and he usuelly does So Look at
Napolion-that is, look at him as depicted in the
Fourth reedur-he cannot be well looked at uther-
wise. Nap was nuthing but poor boy start with,
and when he selected the soldering bizness as
career his most ardent admireurs hoped that
ne would reech higher than secund lieutenent, for
theere was sertainly sum composition at soldering
IN urope in those days, just theere seems to be
at present But it was net menny yeers till by per-
severense and hard work and the successful elimna-
sion Oh those higher up, Nap had so impressed his
personality upon that part of the electorate of Franse
outside of the Bastie, that they voluntarily aftur
he had cassuely mensioned the mattur to them,
elected him emperor and brought about compeet
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-15

biles, and when the pedestrians finally
had an opportunity to cross the thor
oughfare, it resembled a charge of the
allies, so many were there surging over
the macadam in both directions
That, however is merely the street
congestion. and it may be mentioned in
passing that identicany the same condi-
ton is frequently in evidence on Broad
way corners, and upon the corners of
Seventh, Sixth and Fourth avenues, and
other streets. If you start forth in the
morning down there, you figure that, if
it be a mile to your office, you can walk
it in a certain number of minutes, and
unless you have a fainting spell or an
apoplectic attack, you will probably ar
rive according to calculations.
Not SO in Manhattan Now and then
you may possibly get there a few min
utes behind the time you figured it would
take, but in the majority of instances,
these days, you had best give yourself an
extra half hour, at least for crossing
streets,
The good old subway has become a
riot To the average southerner it seems
IKE TlOt at any time, but even the
hardened dweller upon this island is
now bewailing the fact that. though
he is willing to fight with any subway
crowd that ever poured down through
a kiosk, he does object to being forced
to stand and miss train after train,
waiting for chance to get close
enough to the train he wants to fight
his way into it.
The subway service, throughout the
strike has been practically normal In
fact, if trains ran much more frequent
ly, they would have very frequent rear
end collisions. But, regardless of this,
and the added fact that each train in
rush hours carries at least IL long
steel coaches, it is virtually impossi-
bic to get into the first, second or third
one that stops at certain stations, I'M
less you have the strength of Jess
Willard or a British tank"
Exaggeration? Not at all. Those who
get it are packed in as tight as any
sardines ever have been. The sliding
doors endeavor to close, but never can
this be done until the station guards
have either pushed in or pulled out
some half dozen or more struggling
passengers and it doesn't make a par
ticle of difference about their sex,
either.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-15

Mckinley is visible. The campus will
include forest of birch trees as
straight as an arrow. Their trunks
are as white as frosted silver and they
end at the top in green leaves.
The experiment station has now from
so to 140 acres under cultivation, and
40 acres more are being cleared along
the roadside. AS we rode by we could
see men cutting the trees and burn
ing the brush. A little farther on
we came to grain fields, not little
patches, but fields that would be large
on any farm in Virginia. We passed
tracts of oats ready for reaping and
rode through barley which was four or
more feet in height. Above these on the
hillsides were long strips of Siberian
wheat, planted last spring and now
ripening, and side by side with them
strips of experimental grains of one
kind and another On the crest of the
hills were the farm buildings with
buckwheat in front and potato patch
of five or six acres between it and the
oat fields we first passed. The pota-
toes were in full blossom. the vines
were luxuriant and the hilled-up rows
reached to my thighs.
Potatoes grow well in this part of
Alaska Two hundred bushels per acre
is not uncommon and the country is
now raising about all that is needed for
the towns and the camps. A year or so
ago the station sold the yield of five
acres for $500 and it has records OF
three acres which have produced a
value of from $500 to 5000 per acre for
years in succession. Potatoes are sold
by the pound. They bring from 6 to 8
cents, according to season. Some claim
ss-c tubers lack the mealiness of those
of the Rocky mountains. Those l have
had have been dry and delicious.
l spent sometime at the experiment
station. The home of the farmer is a
one-story cottage surrounded by beau
tiful flowers. At one side of it is a
great bed of pansies. and in the front
yard are more pansies, in patterns or
intricate design. About the porch sweet
peas have climbed to the height of your
head and the blossoms have a color
and freshness not found in the sweet
peas in the states. This is SO of all the
flowers of Alaska. The growth is so
rapid, they seem to have been born
overnight, and that in the rain.
Near the cottage is a dollhouse where
tomatoes and cucumbersA are grown.
and across the way are barns and OUT
houses where grain and hay is stored
for the winter. There is also a root cell
lar in the side of hill not far from
the barn. This is cave about Go
feet in length and so lined with
board that it is clean and dry the year
round. 1t will hold hundreds of tons
and is used for storing the potatoes
and other root crops. The potatoes
are put into the cellar as soon as they
are dug. which is sometime in Au-
gust, and they will keep there for more
than year. Just opposite the root
cellar and a little below it is a large
turnip patch. climbed the fence and
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-15

ever graced a showroom window is not
cor sidered so swagger as a carriage and
pair, with liveried coachman, and what
ever you call the other fellows that hang
around 1t while it is moving. However,
those who ride after that fashion here
also ride in their automobiles upon other
, casons. The horse-drawn vehicle is
purely a display proposition in these
days.
Undeniably there is preponderance CT
Wilson signs about the city OF New
York these days All about that dis
trict which hovers between Broadway
and Madison avenue, Forty and
Madison square, one sees great Wilson
banners stretched overhead, while Will
son pictures greet one on all sides.
Naturally, the face and name of Can
didate Hughes Is not absent, and even
burns in electricity over the windows of
g. big political club on the avenue, but
there be those whom 1 have heard say
that the rich old political parties who
constantly adorn the windows of this
club during the daylight hours, are an
excellent plea for the cause of the demo-
cratic candidate
Taking the matter by and large, and
rememb ering that Tuesday, last, was al
most bitter cold in Brooklyn, 1 feel like
confessing that l have seen brand of
baseball played on Redwood field and
at Sulphur Dell, in Nashville, which was
just about the equal of that which re-
suited in the first victory for Brooklyn
in the world series.
OF course, cold day is a cold day
and ball player is not always a ball
player on day of that sort, while a
fans enthusiasm is naturally inclined to
wane, but in spite of all this and re-
Numbering other games of the past sum-
mer. l find not such a marked differ
cree between this major and minor
league quality OF ball playing.
Weatherford Allen. who was at one
time In the coal business in Birmingham
and who. Is a brother of Walter Allen
also in the same game in the Magic
City, has procured lucrative position in
Albany, N, Y, and has gone there from
Manhattan to take charge of large inter-
ests. Weatherford made Broadway take
notice while here. The climate put so
much pep" into him that he frequently
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-15

knowing that New York, with all Its
people, all its joys and sorrows, was still
going ahead without us just as If it had
never known us. 1t could not be done.
But before the infection the desire to
get away comes early. A young man
from a southern state came here but
few days ago to enter the big fight. He
came up smiling from the Jersey shore,
and started right in down in the f1nan-
cial district to hunt a job That same
evening he retired to his cot in his
hall bedroom just as IL he were happy
and contented, but when the morning
dawned all that was left Of him was
note in which he had written that he
didn't like New York city, and had, there
fore, decided to go right back home at
once.
He didn't realize that he was doing
what many have done before him. The
magnitude of 1t all had hit him just as
it hits others accustomed to the life of
for little more, perhaps, and he had
fed in fear of 1t, though he thought he
was answering the call OF something else
That f1rst-fear is a we'll known sensation
here. New Workers are able to recog-
nize it in many people, but the young
man just referred to had particularly
acute attack. He will probably never
return. and New York will never know
nor care
So rapidly are tall buildings going up
here, and SO little is there written or
thought about them, that the whole bor-
ough of Manhattan is changing under
our very eyes, and we do not realize
it. Asked man, standing in his own
office, the name of the tallest building
near at hand, and he regretted that he
could not tell me-
Richard II. Yancey, Jr., of Nashville
had a narrow escape from death at the
corner of Seventh avenue and Thirty
sixth street this week. Jumping back
ward to avoid an automobile, he was
grazed by the tongue of wagon drawn
by two immense horses. Reaching the
pavement in safety he gave vent to
few mild expressions and declared that
he could see the automobiles coming, but
was not sure he could keep clear of
the horse-drawn vehicles-they didn't
have them in Nashville.
And yet the finest automobile that
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-15

pulled up a turnip. 1t was eight inches
thick and by actual measurement the
leaves were IL inches long.
During my stay I talked with the
superintendent His name is j. w.
Neal. He comes here from the agricul-
tural department at Washington. He
tells me he has about 100 acres under
cultivation, almost all of which is in
grain of various kinds. He is clearing
more land and extending the farm. 1
asked him as to the cost of clearing.
Mr.. Neal replied:
ut cannot be done for less than $1OO
per acre, and some tracts will cost
more. The trees have to be cut, the
roots gotten out and the ground and
kill out the moss. Some of the land
has to be drained and it takes some
time before it. can be brought under
cultivation. A great part of the coun-
try is underlaid with prehistoric ice,
the soil being frozen down to bedrock.
In some cases the frozen strata is only
few inches below the surface, and
in others it may be a yard or so deep.
After the land is cleared this gradually
melts until it has no effect upon CYL
tivation and growth"
Mr.. Neal does not think that large
farms will pay in this part of the
world. He says the markets for a
long time will be limited to the local
community which will be supported
by the mines. The demand will steadily
increase as the country is opened and
in time there will probably be a con-
siderable population of small farm
ers.
Leaving the experimental farm, we
visited some of the homesteads nearby
The first was owned by a man named
Young, who came to Alaska with moth
ing about seven years ago. He took
up 800 acres of government land and
a large part of this is now under Gull
tivation. He is raising oats, hay and
potatoes; he has also a big green
house. where he grows tomatoes and
other vegetables for the mining camps
and the town. Mr.. Young was not at
home when we called but Mrs Young
showed us about. AS we looked over
the farm I asked her how she liked
living in this far-off Alaska. She re-
piled that she had been a little dis
satisfied until she had gone outside
last summer, but that since she re-
turned she had had no desire to go
out again. Said she:
This country is my home, and a
mighty good home it is. You can see
what the summer is like. We are per-
fectly comfortable during the winter
We always have plenty to eat, we get
high prices for all that we sell and
we are further ahead every year"
At that moment we were looking over
the stock in the barnyard 1t included
two big sows, each of which had eight
or ten little pigs running with her.
The pigs We're perhaps a month old
Mrs. Young pointed to them, saying,
We sold pair of those pigs yester-