davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17

show. The buildings are of logs and
boards and the place on the whole is
the largest and most prosperous of all
or the Yu.'on river proper
The people of Tanana are enthusiastic
Alaskans. Theye have a chamber of com
merce, consisting of boomers They have
a camp of the Arctic Brotherhood and
local organization known as the Loya,
Order of the Moose. Talk to them about
their village and they will make you
think it paradise. as beautiful as the
Vale of Kashmir and as salubrious as Los
Angeles I asked Judge Dehn, the United
States commissioner. who has been here
y years, what he thought of the climate
He replieG:
Il like it and keep healthy and happy
summer and winter. Our summers, which
last from May until the middle of Sep
tember are more delightful than those
OF any part of the states. The Their
mometer ranges from 45 to 80 degrees
above zero, and for the most of the time
there is scarcely an hour that you can
not read within doors. From June is
to the 10th of July there is no real dark
ness, even at midnight"
How about your winters?" I asked
'The man who went away from here
and said that we have nine months of
hard winter and after that three
months of bad sleighing is liar Our
winter starts in about october /, when
the thermometer drops to IS degrees
above zero. AT that time the ground
freezes and remains solid all winter
The frost goes down to the bed of
glacial ice that lies under a great
part of Alaska, and as far as we know
we live on solid ice block for seven
months of the year. The glacial ice
does not melt in the summer The
frost gets only through the moss and
muck, which is 10 inches or more
deep, and where you pull up the muck
YOU find the ground below frozen solid.
If you clear off the moss and the muck,
it will thaw down to eight or ten feet,
but in the winter such ground seems
to freeze from the top and the bot
tom until it connects. The frost begins
to go out of the ground about May
when the hot sun thaws the ice. 1t is
then that summer begins
''Give me some idea of your winter
weather. 1t must be terribly cold"
Not SO bad. Not so bad said Judge
Dehn The weather keeps growing
colder and colder from October on until
1t holds that average throughout the
winter, although 1t now and then falls
to 40 and even 60 degrees below. I have
seen it down to rs. Zero is hot winter
weather and we do not conside 10 de-
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17
UP AND DOWN BROADWAY--By Allen Griffin johnson

Richard Fl. Yancey, Jr., of Nashville is
in New York conducting the publicitv end
80 vrr,,.,, o,,,no;,,,, ,,ev,;as.
OF the Natiohal BUSINESS wen league.
Mr.. Yancey is as well known In Bir-
mingham as he is in his home town,
having snent wars there and having
a,,.;,, thot h,issf,,, o.;oa haoonoe -,
ou'."e Di
quaihteo with many hatiVes OF the Magic
City.
According to him, Wilson is a sure
thing He states NAT ha hos fol, tho
.,;..., ~, '.,,,
poi'eai puise heie' any 10 "iii''s " say
unquahnedly mat MI hughes is as GER
tain to be a defeated man at the next
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17

off the train. We then wonder if, after
all, it would not be just as we'll to spend
the night downtown. Not, of course, that
We are afraid to make the trip back on
the subway-but why should we subject
ourselves to such discomfort. when few
dollars would procure US nice bed for
the night?
1t is really great life-this in Man
haitian during the strickland we who
have to live through it may enjoy it
greatly--long after it is all over and done
We now find it impossible even to seek
safe thOroughfares. No matter what
route we may choose, we find that trouble
is in progress somewhere between where
we happen to be and home, and the
harder we try to dodge the rioting, the
surer we are to get into the thick of it.
The weapons used to date are pistols,
stones and paving blocks. 1t seems that,
in the absence of ALLEY apples the
strikers dig up the blocks with which the
streets are paved and throw them at the
employees and passengers. They make
frequent use of the word 'scab.' 1 used
to think that a scab was natures pro-
cess of healing wound of the flesh.
but evidently | labored under the wrong
impression. The word has some kind of
meaning that is very insulting. and every
time it is used here it seems to start
something which it requires at least sew
eral policemen to STOP
However, there is, about the strike sit
uation here, novelty that keeps many
of us from spending our funds in the
cabaret restaurants and other white light
district places where we would. under
normal conditions, waste our substance.
OF course / can't tell you just what
the developments will bring. Both the
unions and the railway magnates declare
that they are in the fight to stay, and
that yielding is something they will never
consider. If that really proves to be the
case, then the taxi bandits will continue
to reap golden harvest, and all the
poor public will get will be large bills
and wrecked nervous systems
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17

and minute of the running. The usual
date is about May 10, the time when corn
is planted in the middle states. Last
spring it was earlier. The clock stopped
May 8, at three minutes past 10, and the
ice moved downstream the length of
city block and damned, the water rising
behind it and overiowng the beach in
front of the town"
The usual betting pool al Dawson has
60 subscribers" the captain continued.
"and the amount each puts in is S.; or
it may be as high as 500, so that the
pool as whole may have as much as
5000. After pool has been formed, 60
slips of paper, bearing the numbers from
! to 60, are put in hat. Each number
represents a minute OF the hour and
the man who gets the minute shown by
the stopwatch as the food reaches Daw-
son is given the purse. Bets are also made
on the day of the month and week, and
upon the hour of the day at which the
whistle will blow. In 1914 the engineer
or the steamer Sarah invested 81 in a
$500 pool and won it all That was n
day, hour and minute pool He guessed
the time right to the minute. There are
also many individual bets. The crowds
gather on the banks of the river a the
ice shows signs of breaking and watch
the pole. AS the whistle blows the city
goes mad.
The, same betting goes on at Fair
banks. The time there is the exact min
ute the ice tears away the bridge across
the Cinema river, in the heart of the town.
1t does that every spring. breaking the
posts though they were matches.
Among the bets of last year was one
made at the Tanana club for hundred
dollar dinner to be given to the crowd.
Tom MCGOWAN was the loser and he gave
the dinner"
/ find there is a difference of opinion
as to the Alaska winters. All are not
as enthusiastic about the delights of the
cold and the darkness al those 1 have
quoted.
II tell you. the winters are awful"
said one of the women of Fairbanks
These people say they enjoy life when
the thermometer is 20 or 30 degrees be-
low zero, and that it is not cold. I tell
you it is cold, although the still air
does not make it so bitter
When it is more than 20 below we
women stay in the house. and the men
as much as they can. We work by arti-
when spring comes everyone is peaked
and deathlike. and our compilations are
pale. With the coming of the long days
our color returns. and in summer we are
as healthy and rosy as can be imagined.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17

ALL In Of this kind you've got to help your
self and may the Lord be with you. Also when you
have bunch of relasions persunnel trends
butt in on you for the weekend, it's up to you TO
look pleased and make a noise like good time,
if knock all your plans into cooked hat if
you told theese peepul the plain truth that they
deprying you of anticipated trip to the country
that you would have prefurred they luther
time or not at all, you would be living up to the
strict njunctsion that you must tell the truth and
shame the devil" but you would also be PERSONA au
gratin with them ever Afterwards.
But There is for the liar who does so
purely the love of it, EVEN If they be lies which
reel harm, just boastfu liars, they air pests,
and the part of it is that of the time they
immagine that they air getting away with it. Take,
for instnts, the cafee liar the guy who makes it a
rule to talk in lowd and rasping voise that all
the rest of the guests may enjoy it with There soup,
about his last trip to Pallisteen hunting
Mannitoby or shooting Eskimoos in South America
Or sumthing like that. If he got out of the
county the chances air he went in a hack. Then
There is the club liar, the Teller who do emmy
thing no mattur what, better than ennybody else.
Let sum guy tell story and he'll tell bigger and
moor exaggerated one for the truth. He produse
witnesses and all that too If emmy is skepti
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17

IN E7lSTUR EDDITUR: That old fillossifer, Ram
Il\Wtl masses the Thirteenth, remarked to per-
0VS sunnel friend that "all and wmmin
liars" History does not record
whether old Rammases himself emmy Gawge
Washington not-and we draw the VAIL as
we would hate like the duce to dig up enaythng at
this late day against Ram So far as we know, Ram
was alrite and could get the Endorsement of his party
for reelectson, and that he is ded and gone
These menny yeers, why try to do his memmery dam
age? His descendants air living in the reflected
glory of his rain, and far I am consumed they
may continue to do so; that has, i'll fact nuthng to
do with it meerly drag him in because he is the
guy that ennusiated this living truth In point of
fact all men and wimmin air liars and if they wasn't
theere would be hole lot trubble in this world
than theer is at present and there seems to be
plenty as it is do not rise at this uncture to bring
down upon my he'd the just indignation of the minnis
turs OF the gospel and luther good peepu whose biz
ness it is to teech to tell the truth for they air
rite and but for them would be in bad sure enuff
but what meen to say is in this modern day we
cannot always tell the strict truth unless we run a
desperate risk of being called exsentrick and sent
to the bug house in sollitery confinement If old
Ram had lived to this day he would have probability
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17

grees below that point uncomfortable.
At such times we wear our ordinary
winter clothing and take off our coats
if we are at hard manual labor. came
here from Canton, Ohio. Fifteen de-
srees below zero on the Yukon is not
as cold as Is above in Ohio. Our air is
dry and we do not feel the cold"
Besides" continued Judge Dehn,
"our houses keep out the cold. They are
made of logs, chinked with arctic
moss. The warmest building I have is
my log chicken house which is lined
and ceiled with a framework, the space
between being filled with shavings. 1
keep an air-tight stove going in 1t and
my hens lay all winter"
went out with the Judge to see his
chickens. He has $50, mostly Rhode
Island Reds and Plymouth Rocks. He
sells his pure bred fowls at SIS apiece,
and he gets $50 and upward a dozen
for eggs.
Speaking Of chickens. I have been
greatly interested in how they are
handled in these cold countries of the
far north. We brought 500 blooded
fowls on our ship down the Yukon.
They had come from Seattle and were
consigned to man in Fairbanks. They
are still on the ship and will go up
the Tanana river tomorrow At Daw-
son l met Chicken Billy, who at one
time had 900 chickens, and who has
sold eggs in the winter for as much
a SIS a Dozen l have already written
of Swift Water Bill, who cornered the
egg market of the Klondike. buying,
it is said, 5000 eggs at a dollar apiece.
I have heard other stories almost as
interesting. For instance, the chickens
imported from the states have to have
their days made of the same proper
tions of light and darkness as at home
before they will lay. l heard of a man
at Circle who imported a lot of fowls
from the states with the idea of start
ing a chicken farm. After a week or so
they grew droopy. They lost flesh and
he got no eggs whatever. He was then
told the chickens were suffering from
lack of sleep. 1t was midsummer when
the light is bright throughout the "a
hours. The chickens had no sunset to
mark their bedtime, and they kept on
scratching gravel all night. The man
decided to put them in darkened coops
at s p. m. and keep them so until morn
ing The hens at once regained their
old vigor and began to drop ranch
eggs" which sold for several dollars a
dozen. I am told that the coops must
be lighted during the long dark days of
the winter in order to make the hens
lay.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17

one of the coaches; we know beyond
all question of doubt that we are hope
lessly caught and that if there is an
explosion, riot. or anything else of
an unpleasant nature, we are in for it
to the bitter end.
OF course we didn't have to get into
this situation. We could have walked
downtown, but 10 miles was more than
we cared to tackle; we could even have
hired taxi, but we have been living
here long enough to know that mo-
body who is not in the multi" class
can hope to flirt with the little chauf-
feur bandits and get away with
enough money to buy dinner at a
quick lunch counter. Therefore we
take our chance and go down into
the subterranean depths, defying sud-
den death and all kinds of excitement
in order to make our best effort to
look the boss calmly in the face and
say that we are ready for the days
duties. Heroic? Not in the least. You
see, after Drawing the subway troubles
for about 10 miles. if we are lucky
enough to get out whole and un-
harmed. the sensation Of relief is so
Ereat that looking the boss calmly in
the face has become one of the easiest
little things to do
While we are in the SUBJ however it
is altogether different. Every little oc-
currence that is not strictly according to
schedule. is a panic provoker. If the
train happens to stop between stations
for any reason, known or unknown the
passengers are on their feet and every
one of them seems on the verge of step
ping from sanity into the realm Of tenn
porary madness.
If there be SO much as a flicker of
the lights in the car. it means trouble,
anu If an explosion of any kind Is heard,
though it be but the blasting that goes
on almost always on Broadway, there is
a crush that is murderous. at once
1t is a fine thing, no doubt, to have
an officer of the law standing around
to protect us. but the policemen we see
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17

in the subway stations and in the trans,
have the wrong effect on the majority of
US, merely making us realize that trouble
is to be expected at any moment.
At Grand Central station some of us
leave the express train for local and
here it is that we discover newsboy or
two, who have found their way under
ground in some way, and are calling
forth the comforting news that dyna-
mite has been discovered in the subway.
We haven't seen the dynamite, nor have
we felt any effect from it, but there it is
in the paper, and it is almost as deadly
therein as if we had actually rolled over
it between Seventy street and
Grand Central. aa
However, there is one good result
about half the passengers seek the upper
air, and the rest of the trip is taken in
less discomfort, in spite of the dynamite
fear that has been thrown into our
hearts by Mr.. Hearst's headlines.
We do notice that the guard in our
car, called out that the next station
would be Aston Place, knowing that such
could not possibly be the case, we realize
that the guard is probably strike break
Ell, and is not familiar with his duties
as a subway guard. However. we can
only sit still and silently pray that the
motorman is bit more experienced and
that he will not try to take us all the
way down to Astor Place without another
stop, in spite of the guards announce
ment that he would undertake just that.
At last, we reach our destination, climb
up out of the underground passage, and
go smilingly on our way, thinking that,
perhaps, the strike will have been settled
before we have to go home in the even
ing. and even wondering vaguely IL we
couldn't negotiate jitney in some way,
for even the jitney has entered Man
haitian since the strike started.
A later edition of the daily sheet with
the amber hue informs us that an IL
train has been attacked by strikers; that
the motorman has been beaten up and
that the passengers have been ordered
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17

Among other strange cold weather fea-
lures of this part of the world is the
watching the ice in the river to see when
it will form, how deep it will freeze and
when it will go out in the spring. One
of the river captains tells me he has
measured the ice of the Yukon and found
it at times five feet in thickness. In
the ordinary season the ice on the main
part of the stream is only two and one
half or three feet deep, and the water
flows beneath it. The ice forms the great
highway of travel in winter weather
/ asked this captain to tell me more
about the ice on the Yukon He re-
piled:
Navigation opens at Dawson between
the 9Th and the 18th of May, and 1t
usually closes about the 25th of October
Long before the center of the river is
frozen, there is a continuous strip of
ice along the shores, and cakes Of ice
float along the channel AS the cold
weather continues, the ice extends far
ther and farther out, until the channel
grows so narrow that the steamers can
not make their way through. The float
ing cakes increase in number, and at
last they make gorges at the narrow
places and form solid ice there. AS
winter settles down into steady cold,
the whole river is frozen from bank to
bank, and it is SO solid that you can
run a train of cars over it.
THE most interesting time on the
Yukon" continued the captain, lis when
the ice breaks up in the spring. That on
the upper part of the river breaks first,
and pushes its way down the stream.
breaking the other ice it goes. The
boats start in behind the ice and move
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17

IN\u cial)--Those who are familiar
Nj with normal Manhattan-if, in
deed, this borough of perpetual
brainstorms is ever normal-would hard
ly recognize it in these troublous
times. Even Broadway seems un-
natural, since the clang and clatter of it's
one-time endless stream of surface cars
have faded into the faint tinkle of far
off bell attached to car that is crowded
to capacity long before it gets within half
mile of the corner wherein you stand
waiting with your car-fare in your hand
and vain hope in your heart.
The energetic press of Gotham probably
keeps you posted on the principal devel-
Opments of the strike situation, but does
it give you an idea of how we feel who
live in the strike zone? Does it convey
to you an idea of how we feel who live
upon upper Manhattan and have to re-
port at various points 10 or more miles
south of our habitats at the hour of a.
IN. every day?
1t really isn't the most comfortable
sensation in the world to reside upon this
island at this particular time If one be
afflicted with nerves. the effect is de-
cidedly discomforting.8 Throughout the
night the noises of great city crate
upon ones nerves; every explosion,
whether of tire or munitions factory,
starts train of thought that carries one,
with it into all sorts of unoomforta BILE
mental regions The fire bells have a
deadly tone. it seems; q policeman's whis-
tie suggests bloody murder, and if the
broom falls down in the Kitchen it is
easy to picture the battle front along the
Somme
At a. m. we arise. sneak out to the
door in oar slippers and bath robe, and
pick up the mornings excitement-mean-
ing the daily paper which we subscribe
for. Its glaringIs headlines tell us that
the railway companies have decided to
fight to finish; that the unions have
announced at last that force will be
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17
Difference in Religions

FroT Case and Comment.
The woolly- Uncle Rasmus
was accused of disturbing the peace.
Officer Mort Rudolph explained 1t as
follows:
Your honor. this man was running
up and down the Mill river road wav-
ing his arms and yelling at the top OF
his voice, and otherwise raising the
mischief, at half past l in the morning.
Tho people of the district complained.
and they had perfect right to-"
The judge frowned at Rasmus, who
didn't seem to be particularly worried.
What do you mean by such unbe-
coming conduct" his honor de-
manded.
Religion, jedge," was the response
Religion. Are you a Holy Roller
or something like that? l have religion.
Rasmus. but don't get up midnight
and tell everybody about It,"
Oats des' de diffunce, jedge. !
amt ershamed OBJ mine"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17
Semaphores for Traffic Officers

The police department of Louisville.
Ky, has supplied semaphores at the va
rious street intersections attended by
traffic officers, These are of the stamped
metal type. with sockets providing for
lamps with red and green light and using
the words stop" and 60" They are
portable, in sections, the base and hol-
low upright being surmounted by the re-
volving standard A specially designed
wagon gathers the signal arms as well
as the safety zone flags at night The
use of the semaphores has been attended
by one accident. A boy who put his head
out a window of car was struck by
semaphore and suffered cash on the
head.
El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-24
WHEAT PRICES
QUICKLY BREAK
Rumors of Impending Trou-
BILE With Germany Re-
suits in Sudden Drop.

Chicago. H.. Feb. 2k-Disturbing rumors
that drastic consequences would result from
tension between Washington and Berlin re-
gardlng Germany's submarine policy caused
"a break Of more than seven cents bushei
today in the price Of wheat. compared
with values current earlier in the session.
The gist Of the rumors that the hand
ing Of passports To the German ambassador
was imminent.
Strength developed in wheat early In the
day result OF unexpected firmness in
quotations from Liverpool and because OF a
dlminish hing Of receipts northwest. opening
with May al Sl,Z3% TO s1.s39s and July At
Sl.19h TO 1.19&. prices scored substantial
advance all around.
Later the market suffered sensational
break.
The close was semi -demoralized TO =. c
net lower, with May at S1.17 4 and July at
S114W.
The most sensational fall took place in
the price Of the May option, which dropped
low point was down Toe bushel CONF
pared with figures Monday.
For the greater part. the losses took place
in the last IS minutes and were accompa-
MED by wild efforts on the part Of holders
to unload.
Corn hardened with wheat The opening,
which ranged from \ to 4 a. &c higher
followed by an additional upturn.
subsequently sharp declines took place.
influenced by the break in the value OF
wheat. The close was nervous, y to / 3 q
under Wednesday, finish
Oats reflected the advance made by other
cereals.
steadiness characterized provisions