davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

You can tell him almost anywhere; ne wears look that few months of Man haitian will drive from his countenance. As he sits in the first coach of a 12-car subway express, and is rushed along under ground, and under water, for tnat matter, he looks from. face to face, ne peeps out of the window as the stations fly by and he seems to be loolSong for someone else who is thinking of the pos sibility of dire accident. His thoughts are out pictured plainly: Good Lord, suppose this darned train should run orr the track! Suppose one of these sky scrapers should cave in on us!" And thus he proceeds to make himself mis- erable while the regular New Yorker in the train with him are more deeply in- terested in some newspaper article then under their eyes, or womans race across the aisle, or maybe some other portion of the woman, made visible by the skirt designer.
 On the ''L" it is the same, though not so pronounced, perhaps Around the one Hundred and Tenth street curve, which Is the highest point of the "L" the visitor seems to be picturing about what would happen if the train ran off the trestie' Going up into the Woolworth tower ne gives evidence of the nerve shock agaln' ha stands haltingly and nervously upon the escalator he looks worried as he de- scends from the top of the Equitable building in one of the big plunger eleva- tors; on the street he is constantly in dread of trouble. it seems, and when 1t comes to crossing Broadway or the ave- nue. he is glad to catch hold of any thing, from policemans hand 10 pretty woman's apron string
 People who have not been particularly nervous at home, come here and give every evidence of state of nerves that is certainly not enviable, and if they rush away, again before they are adjusted to New York city. they become those who
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

New York will act as a nerve steadier for him, or for her, who will stick around long enough, provided the constitution is strong enough to bear the series of first shocks which no New Yorker will at And the faces and manner of New York CTS have convinced me of this. It is par ticularly true of the women. Nowhere else will one see women so self contained, so sure of themselves so free, to all ap- pearances, from nerves" They go and come as they please. when they please and where they please. They think noth- ing of finding themselves alone under the bottom of the Hudson or East rivers at 1 or o'clock in the morning, and it is as rare to see one of them run across Broadway as it is to see absolute so- briety in a prohibition town.
 Following our original premise, an out slider may quite naturally arrive at the conclusion that, if all this be true, and life in New York so quiets the nerves as to render shock almost out of the question, then it would be equally true that life would lose much of its zest- that is. if it no longer held shocks and surprises.
 The fact is. however, that surprises do come, and are not only quite as enjoy able. but far more so than If the nerves were still in a condition to be twisted awry by them. The New Yorker may now and then wear blase mask, but it does not picture his real feeling, it merely hides it, for the reason that such is some times necessary.
 There isn't a native walking Broadway today who isn't proud of his native city and who isn't consciously enjoying the Knowledge that he is New Yorker. He may speak casually to you of this or that, but he is glad to see that it impresses YOU. and if you want to see the best side
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09
The Mexican
 Frontier

but is to taxes. It has been cumming for than 40 yeers; theere has been guvver- mint in Mexico wurthy of the name in that time, evven including the much boasted reign of Diaz. Liburty in Mexico is pure a style of bunk as the fanatca laws of Birmingham that permit the incaser asion of citizen for selling hair tonnick But evven so, if reel patryot to rise to the occasion in Mexico it would be far bettur fer that country to work out it's destiny than for to undertake the task The peepul of this country have hoped and prayed that such man would cum to the frunt and evvery preender-Carranza the last-has been givven the opportunity It seems hopeless. It looks tho the naggers for intervenson in this. country, who have left stone unturned in theere effurts to start sumthng, that they have no idear of getting into persunnelly, have out If it then be trew and must do tive must, and that's all theere Is left to do. It be sed that it is undertaken by those in power in country aftur exhausting evvery devise to avoid it. and it is undertaken with reel appreciation of the responsibility but with deturminasion to do furst class job
 Yours trooly,
 BILL VINES. Washington, D. c.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

of the world. Those on Billy's table were cut into slices and served in a large vegetable dish.
 After dinner we took skiff and sailed from the island to Billys potato farm on the mainland. This farm is right on the banks of the Yukon, and the $10.9o0 crop is within a stones throw of the river. The field is half mile in length and of such a width that 1t makes alto gether r acres.
 The farmhouse stands in the center of 1t. It is log cabin with great cellar under it. where the potatoes are stored until ready for market. The thermometer here falls at times during the winter to 70 degrees below zero, but the cellar is so made that the potatoes do not freeze. The walls are furred out and made double. The boacd floors under the tubers are ventilated and there is a dead air space where there is any danger of frost The potatoes are kept in large bins, each holding hundreds of bushels. l found some of last years crop still in the bin. They are solid and sweet as when they came from the fields. Indeed, it is hard to tell them from the new potatoes
 I have seen many farms, but none bet ter cultivated and freer of weeds than this potato patch. The vines reach to my knees They are in rows which are perfectly straight, and the blow goes just one mile in the round trip up one row and back down another Billy tells me he hopes to have six or seven tons to the acre and that the patch should yield about 100 tons or over 5000 bushels He expects to get $100 per ton, so that the gross receipts should be something like $10,000
 The soil is sandy loam made up of silt brought down by the Yukon. The virgin land is covered with bushes and trees so thick that it takes s1OO and upward an acre to clear it. Farm wages are high. In ordinary seasons a hand gets as much as $1O0 month and board and just now Billy is paying his tenants $75 a month and their board. He says that he has had farm hands this year as low as S2.50 day and found, although the prices in Dawson have been $4 a day and on government work as high as from 8 to S7. I would say however that the demand for labor is limited, and the mar ket for potatoes and other vegetables is confined to the small population in the mines and in Dawson. Much competition would take the heart out of the business, and if the farms were increased by many new homesteaders there would be glut in the market and the prices would fall.
 There is no doubt but that potatoes can he raised in most parts of Alaska. Luther Burbank, the man who originated the Burbank potato and who has become world famous as a plant breeder. was in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

of him, display an interest on your own side, and thus draw out all that his pride in his little metropolis will offer.
 The person who makes New York his home, but who lived elsewhere for many of his present place of residence, for the reason that he is able to realize a con trast that the native who has lived here all his life cannot. He knows that he is enjoying color and variety which he could not have found at home, and he has, therefore. an added interest. But this condition does not come until he has re- gained his boise, which the absolutely in- esca pablo first shocks will assuredly shake. During the shaking he will rant and rave against Gotham; he will declare it no place for real human beings to live in; he will call it heartlecs-worse. But afterward-it is generally difficult to pull him off the island even for visit to the old village that knew him in childhood knew him. apparently, better than he knew himself and therefore did its ut most to convince him that there was nothing to him"
 It is true that few things are big enough to be considered as a regular 'event" throughout New York city. There may. De sometnlng or unusual mag nitude on one block which the next block takes no interest in, but there is this to remember: It is an event to those who are interested, and because all New York does not enthuse. one must not therefore minimize it's importance New York is many cities in one.
 But each community may be likened to a city in itself. There is Greenwich Vil- lage, for instance, located down on the lower Westsde. What does Washington Heights know of what Greenwich Village is doing, even though it be published in the papers? And what does Harlem care about the events" that happen in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

been taken up in the territory and there are little farms here and there on the banks of the Yukon river and on the islands which pepper it's surface. There are also great farms under glass. Dawson itself has acres of hothouses and there are other hothouses belonging to Joseph w. Boyle in the heart of the Klondikc. He keeps them to supply his miners with the earliest greens and vegetables that the arctic sun will produce.
 And now a word about Chicken Billy. He is an American, a bachelor, only y years old, and good to his mother. l know this, for the old lady, although she is over four-score, is now on her way from Seattle to the Klondike. She likes the cold weather, and prefers to spend her winters in Billy's cabin rather than with her well-to-do son in the states.
 Billy was born in Philadelphia and went to school there. He was still under 20 when he passed the examinations for appointment to the navy at the time or the Cuban war. He was so excited over his success that when he came into the hands of the surgeons to be tested as to his physical fitness his heart was throb- ping at the rate of hundred and odd beats to the minute, and the result was that the doctors pronounced him unfit for the service. They said he had heart disease Billy then worked at odd jobs. without great success, until one day he saw a paper describing the strike in the Klondike. The article was headed Gold at the Grass Roots,' and Billy tells me he decided to get into the grass and dlg out a fortune. He had only Sl1 ahead at that time, but with that he got to St Paul and thence worked his way on to Skagway.
 He walked in over the Dyea trail ana fought for his own with the miners of Dawson. He got some gold from his va rious ventures but made no big strikes, and finally gave up mining and went into chickens. For this purpose he bought an island on the Yukon not far from the mouth of the HlondilSe. and built him henhouse of logs with glass windows fac- ing the south. For time he did well. His eggs sold for 50~cents each, and his fat chickens brought in $40 or SoO dozen. He built up his flock until he had 990 chickens and his fresh laid eggs became so well known that he acquired his nick name Chicken Billy, which he holds to this day throughout the whole region. He thought he was on the fair road to for tune, when competition came in. The other poultry raisers cut prices and chickens dropped to dollar apiece. Billy found that his hens did not do so well in large flocks He was losing money and looked about for other kinds of farm ing instead. He is now raising only fancy
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

Lawson, I ukOn LeTIltOIy. (E7HIS is the story of Chicken Billy HI and his s1o,0oO potato patch. 1t is the story of a young Ameri- I9EyNl can who became the poultry
 king of the Klondike, and then l mt into farming with such success that has one field of potatoes that will Ing in sl0Oo0 this fall. That is a sam of what farming can do on the banks the Yukon, and a suggestion of the Utility of Alaska as well.
 Chicken Billy is good type of the ! mers of the far north. I first met kn yesterday afternoon. He called at hotel here in Dawson. A rough king young man of less than medium
 summer sun of the arctic and his ads are horny with handling the blow. wore a pair of rough boots that ched to his knees, blue jeans trousers newhat the worse for wear, and a Tt of flannel, open at the neck, that lived his brown chest. He was in his rking clothes. for he had brought some his crop of hothouse vegetables into wson for sale. He introduced himself William Anstett, nicknamed Chicken ky, and asked me to go with him ilp
 river to look at his farms. l ac- Ited the invitation and have just re- med from the trip, the most interesting lave yet had on the Yukon.
 hut first let me tell you something fx, fo,. rovfh nax IT, hear the arctic circle, and the coun-
 about it is thought by many to be Wv and ice the year round. The fact the winters last only until April or and the short, hot summers are al st perpetual daylight, so that nature Is on it's seven league boots and works
 greater part of the night. As to the ming in general, the most of it is in small patches. There are gardens ut the miners cabins where they raise htoes and turnips, green peas and $ and carrots and celery. Last year
 man grew 40 tons of turnips, or 1920 hels, upon a field of one acre. and h another acre the same man raised
 bushels of potatoes His crop of stables all told weighed 200 tons. An er farmer recently brought in a cauli- ger which measured 10 inches in diam
 turnip weighing IA pounds, and six is of cabbage which, when put on the es, registered 13O pounds light. I have e figures from Albert E. Lamb, one he government officiels of Yukon ter ry, and a man entitled to credit. He
 enthusiast on farming in the Yu-
 and says the day is coming when no etables will be brought in from out ready number of homesteads have
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

Down in Fourteenth street an electrio sign announces, Family Burlesoue." This is. apparently. new brand which we must investigate in the interest of family morals. We have seen Hello. New York at the Columbia, but that could hardly be called family" burlesque and if the Fourteenth street show has anything on the Columbia attraction, we would like to give it the o. O at any rate.
 The police force of New York city '> smaller today than it was in 1914 ans :. request has been made by Police Com missioner Woods for l5o more men. We havo now only 1o,623 policemen and it Is claimed that we need about 13,o00-that is we would have that many if we had them in the same ratio as Philadelphia. However, Philadelphia is a much naugh- tier town.
 It is a curious thing that some of the most interesting occurrences on Manhat- tan Island never get into the newspaper mot even into the Times, which claims that it publishes all the news that's fit to print"
 For instance, we all know now--thanks to 1rv. Cobb-that the goldfish has no privacy. But the New Yorker, in many cases. seems to desire no more privacy than the goldfish has It's an odd thing wish could explain it to you.
 A fight will be made here to retain the horse car line down town. It is the only one left in the country. and New York will not let this distinction be taken from her without an effort The com plaipt had been made that 90 passengers are being carried on cars which should carry but 6o
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09
! |SsN

s1 and not knowing ennything about Mexico concluded that they would rite about it. The excan situasion is still in midst-t has been bat way for 40 yeers and then sum, and constinty lowing moor The average Americon whose Prse of infermasion is what he reeds in the news |ipers. knows nuthng whatever about Mexico be-
 g only little bit better off than the feller who rites bout it. Evvery now and then we run across sum |y who yeers ago, in misguided momint, went into lexico and invested his weeth and a lot of bor- lived mummy in mines timber lands sumthng Id who has been throwing 16 fits per mint evver Ints becawse the U $. A. don't send the standing |my down theere to look aftur his speculasons This tell you rite off the bat 57 different vare- eS of reesuns why should hop into Mexico and Iop up with the populasion Mexico has been stick Ig out like thumb for good long spell, and Every and then cum to the conclusion that fe long deferred opperasion must be performed But 3e U. $. has drawn back frum this task for menny l cd and suffisent reesuns. It is thankless one
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09
By FRANK G. CARPENTER

Dawson, Yukon Territory.
 t@7HIS is the story of Chicken Billy and his s1o,0OO potato patch. 1t
 is the story of young Ameri- jNlyNl can who became the poultry
 1y;ro of tba Brondilxe and then
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

ISTUR EDDITUR: A grate deel of stuff has been ritten off and on about Mexico by
 peepul who wanted to rite about sumthng, and not knowing ennything about Mexico, concluded that they would rite about it. The
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

Leaving the hothouses we took a look at the hogs. During the summer they are kept in inclosures out in the open, they have sleeping pens or cov- cred platforms on which they crawl at night In the winter they live in the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

Washington, D. c.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

There is no doubt but that potatoes can 'e raised in most parts of Alaska. Luther Burbank, the man who originated the Burbank potato and who has become world famous as a plant breeder, was in
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1916-02-10
ne month in the year only.

one month in the year only.
l trust that this information will be
what is desired, but in order that
may not fail to make statements upon
each specific inquiry, l have to say,
in reply to your first question, that
the department has information rela-
tive to the condition of the roads in
Iowa at all seasons of the year.
IL reply to your second question:
We do not consider ourselves infal-
lille, and readjustments of the rural
delivery service will be promptly
made, especially where substantial
cause therefor may be shown.
AS to your third question: The de-
partment has not been, and is not, in
any wise interested in the effect that
it's action may have upon elections.
Politics has absolutely no place in
the performance of postal duties. 1t is
primarily great business enter
prise and should be, and is, conduct
ed on the principle that we produce
the maximum return for the mimi
mum expenditure of the peoples
money.
AS to your fourth question, ! sub
nit the enclosed tabulated state
ment.
In reply to your fifth question: The
department used twenty inspectors
and eighteen of it's most experienced
clerical employees in the revision OF
this scr, ire, not only in Iowa, but all
over the country; also thousands OF
reports from local inspectors have
been received from time to time, dur
ing the past twenty years, from which
complete and accurate data was Sc
cured upon many illustrations of the
unfair distribution of rural mail ia
cilities. Some of these inspectors and
employees were assigned to duty in
the state of Iowa for years, and are
entirely familiar with local condi-
tons in that state
No new service was established on
any highway where report from the
local postmaster was not at hand
relative to the road conditions, and
other details concerning the charac-
ter of service that could be rendered.
Permit me to thank you for your
inquiry, and l sincerely trust that the
information contained herein may be
of value to you and to the people of
the state of Iowa.
Yours very truly,
JAS. l.. BLAKSLEE,
Fourth Assistant Postmaster General.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1916-02-10
STATEMENT
of the condition of
PleaSantOn Savings Bank


of January 1916 made to
of State.
Amour bonds of debt discount
ed this bank S4244o1o
Silver in vault ol1.Va
subsidiary 2374O0
cash items dishonored 9olo|
lied e ont w. ~ ....... -. 49,. 4,11261
hanLs ~ ~ ~ -. 5,43463
Overdrats 49, 49, ... 49,. .,..,, -. 34120
Exnanse account of profits . $50 26764
Va1uo ~ raj estate : ,.,, -. 49,. 1,75OO0
va1ue If MARGINAL nronertv 10000
TOTAL ASSETS -. ....,., -. -. -. -. -. s65,
capital stock slo'ooOoo
Amou o 1o,o'o'oo
Of owe, County,
Chew cashier Of bank above
named solemny full
belief assets
bank lts corpoate
portion OF its assets
jail" w ''o rN'f C.
CHEW. Cashier
by NJ Coulter
this FEBRUARY,
p''S Edwin Davis,
>' for Decatur County.
Ateed Ralph Judd, A. B. McClaran Directors
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1916-02-10
Montana Letter.
Killing.

Billings, MOuC., Jan. 20, I5lO.
Editor Reporter-As you asked us
if we wouldn't write you letter
when we got here l think it about
time that we were doing so. We are
having some pretty cold weather
here, has been below zero for about
two weeks, and we are looking for
still colder weather. 1t has been "a
below zero and the weather man says
we will have 40 below zero before
many more days. Hope you people
in Leon and Decatur county are hay
ing nicer weather than this.
Billings is town of $4,000 peo-
pie. 1t is considered to be next to
the largest town in the state of Mon
tana. There are five banks, eight
schools which are named for GER
tain presidents of the United States,
and we have fifty-two saloons, and
other fine buildings. We are about
hundred and fifty miles from the
Grow Reservation. There is not
day that passes that we do not see
from eight to ten Indians in Billings
buying and selling their wares to the
through passengers. Last summer
the first five days of July was what
Montana calls the Frontiers Round
Up" There was parade which con-
sisted of old time cow girls and boys,
the old time stage, old miners with
their pack mules, settlers with their
wagons drawn by OK teams. Heading
the parade rode Manager Harris and
Just behind him rode the queen OF
the roundup, and her six maids of
honor, and then came Mr.. Mulhau
and his son and daughter. His daugh-
ter is the girl who could throw a
steer and tie him in two minutes and
twenty-one seconds. Throwing steers,
bull logging, racing and breaking
horses were demonstrated at the fair
grounds during the roundup.
This fall while the exposition was
being held Secretary McAdoo and his
wife passed through Billings. Mr..
McAdoo gave a speech during train
stops, which amounted to 20 minutes.
l heard part of his speech, which l
enjoyed very much, but l left before
his speech was over for l wanted to
shake hands with President Wilson's
daughter, Mrs. McAdoo. She sure is
a sweet little woman and Mr.. Wilson
ehould be proud of having such
daughter, and I sure felt proud to
get to shake hands with her. Papa
also heard a short speech from Mr..
Bryan, and we also heard one from
the Governor of Ohio.
Nov ! will try and tell you some
OF our history since we came to Bill
ings. Leland has taken 1872 acre
homestead just about 20 miles from
oil fields. He is about four miles
from the town of Warren, and sixty
from Billings. His homestead has
been staked for oil by the oil COM
pany, but he pulled up the stakes and
burned them. He is at this writing
on his homestead and he is also haul
ing oil supplies from Warren to Elk
Basin for the oil company, getting
sixty dollars month and his board.
Papa is working for the Northern
Pacific railroad. He inspects all
freight cars going out Of Billings. We
all like Montana fine for we sure
have beautiful summer time here
when it gets nice. Some of our nice
weather comes in September and Oc-
tober.
Will you please tell us if our sub
scription has expired. Now l will
try and write another letter in the
future il this one goes to press.
Yours truly,
Gladys Lutz,
III Terry Ave.