davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
MUCH SOOTHING AT BALD HEADS

From the Providence Journal.
 We learn vaguely that bald headed man in Connecticut has been awarded the prize for being the handsomest mau in a parade in his home town. It would be immensely interesting to know how he managed to create the Illusion. .'-The Evening Bulletin.
 To begin with, he probably kept his hat on.
 But why should anybody deny the right of bald-headed men to inclusion in the ranks of their good-looking fellows? Some men are handsome in spite of their badness. To some the absence of hail lends a positive dignity-melancholy but unmistakable.
 An abundance of hair is not necessarily a title to manly beauty. We have all seen men whose excessive endowment in this respect unplea sanity suggested our hir- sute African prototypes. To be sure, there Is happy medium; moderation Is agreeable in all things, including hair. But there has been too much scoffing at baldheads. We recommend to the writer in the Evening Bulletin the tale of the bald headed prophet and the forty and two irreverent children as related in II. Kings, ii, 23-24.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
HOTEL LOBBIES
Strike situation Serious


 "The probability of railroad strike throughout the country appears to be growing serious" said F. O. Harvey yesterday. "It will be, indeed, a pity if the railroad men should strike and tie up traffic throughout the United States. Aside from the monetary loss to shippers, there will be the loss in wages to the trainmen and I sincerely hope that the railroads and the train men can reach an agreement satisfac- tory to all
 Then, too, the street car men throughout the country appear to be in state of dissatisfaction. I notice the New York street car men are making demands upon the operators, and the same thing obtains in Philadelphia. Memphis has just come through a strike of street car men. The strike spirit appears to have reached an ep- idemic stage throughout the country. I sincerely hope that Birmingham es- capes it."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
CALLING KANSAS

From the New 4ork Telegram.
 There is something the matter with Kansas after all. The Sunflower State has been blowing her own horn far too much, bragging in fact, and has been called down for it.
 Governor Arthur Capper, who besides being the states head is also editor of the Topeka Capital, having set forth the unapproachable excellences of. Kansas, Governor Morehead of Nebraska, came back with a few figures to show that as compared with Kansas, Nebraska has fewer insane persons, fewer illiterate per sons, bigger bank deposits, more build- ing and loan associations, fewer paupers more valuable land, fewer divorces. more church members, fewer juvenile dein- quents fewer prisoners, fewer business failures, fewer homes mortgaged, greater farming area and more automobiles Kansas, as set forth, is not the great est farming state. Nebraska per capita production for 1915 was $42167; Iowa, l ssS1.5o; Kansas $2S1.5o. Nor has Kansas the greatest per capita wealth in the na- ton, sl629.61 for every man, woman and child in the state. The United States census bureau of May. 1914 puts Kan sas in eighth place, and gives to Me- braska fifth place.
 It is possible some official deceived Governor Capper with their official re- ports. One can prove anything by fig ures.
 Maybe we are prone to boast of our superiority. which is foolish. The time always comes when things have to be looked squarely in the face and then it is found the truth wears better than any thing else.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
BRAVO, MARY!

From the Savannah Press.
 We trust little Mary Miller, 15 years of age, who saved the life of little Jeff Bayne at St. Simons Island few days ago, will get the Carnegie medal for which her friends have made application. The action of Mary in this trying, excit- ing and tragic moment showed her to be a remarkably brave and clear headed little girl. It is said she acted as she did because of her training as a Girl Scout. She is quoted in a Bruns- wick paper:
 Our leader, Miss Sadie Dart. has all ways told us that whenever we were called upon to assist anyone in trou- ble never to get excited. but to remem- Der our duty and perform it, and when saw my aunt and little cousin strug- gling in the water I remembered the in. structions of our scout leader.
 The little girl was unable to save her aunt, but she did save her cousins life and she did it by keeping cool and re- membering the lessons taught her in the ranks of the Girl Scouts.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
HEROES

From the New York Globe.
 Foremost among the words that should be put on the temporarily retired list is the long-suffering sobriquet "hero." Like many another once eloquent and signiti- cant part of our vocabulary, it has lost all it's emphasis and most of it's elo- quence It no longer signifies a person l of extraordinary and supernormal cour- age. Any kind of courage that entails risking ones life is now accepted as supernormal.
 Last week, for instance. we read of the death of a British lieutenant It was in no way different from the death of thousands of other British lieutenants in the war. It was none the less brave for all that, of course. It may be fairly and reasonably assumed that they all fought and died bravely. But this par ticular young man was described in the dispatches as a hero. The real reason for mentioning his death was that his father is a distinguished man. He led his com pany without flinching in the face of a deadly fire. If he was a hero, it is only tair to add that his entire company, the battalion, and, to carry it out logically, the whole division, were composed of heroes, for they all advanced and many of them were killed.
 In short the word hero may now be accepted as a term describing anybody who loses his life in battle. As such 1t is quita useful. But if it is so used we are bereft of any word to give forcefu1 description to a man who achieves the act of superlative bravery. It is the same in all languages According to the Prus- sian newspapers there are some seven millions of heroes in the German armies. Of soldiers who are just plain brave men we see no record. Perhaps 1t will all result in positive and superlative changing places. The superman of cour- age will be known by the modera ton with which he is described The heroes will be the backbone of the nation.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
WORLDS sTRANGEsT SOCIETY

From Pearson's Magazine.
 III the streets of Leghorn, Italy. may frequently be seen a procession of a dozen men, clothed from head to toe in black their face concealed by black calico ilashs failing to the waist, with two mar row openings for the eyes and sur- mounted by black, broad brimmed hats. Black gloves and girdle and rosary of black beads complete the funeral eouip- ment.
 with downcast eyes, what appears like coffin borne on the shoulders of four of them and preceded by a man carrying a large silver crucifix, they march ouiclxlv past, with reverent mien and in the utmost silence. If, in their progress the pfocesslonists pass a church they raise their hats; if they encounter priest they put down their burden and fall on their knees to receive his blessing.
 This spectacle has been familiar in Tus- cany for four centuries. The black. garbed, black-veiled men are simply en-. gagged in work of mercy-the carrying of the dead to their grave and of the injured or sick to the hospitals They are members of the great Misericordis society, brotherhood of pity, who give their services to this good work and wear their masks to hide their identity from curious eyes
 Four centuries ago the society was founded at Florence, where it's headquar- ters are, and throughout Tuscany it has today no fewer than 70 branches. In Leghorn alone it has 5000 members-prob- ably one out of every five of the adult male population, and every member gives his services gladly and gratuitously
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07

Mexican peons with their toes sticking through their shoes wouldn't mind that so much, if they could negotiate three square meals a day, with a nip or two of pulque | An actress writes to the Dramatic Mir TOT complaining that she is lonesome in New York. Will some benevolent mill lionaire take her out to late supper?
 
 ] If Doc Cook sails to the north pole in an aeroplane he should not fail to take some photographs and thus avoid an other Scotch verdict-"not proven" Naturally. all the allied leaders would | express confidence of victory, speaking as they do for publication, but they seem to believe every word they say.
 It is said that the Kaiser is still popular in Germany. but the crown prince is called an empty head. Seems to agree with the British view.
 
 Doctors have decided that the garbage can does not spread infantile paralysis, but that doesn't justify carelessness in handling said garbage can. A drama tist has based a play on sev- eral of Riley's poems, but if he makes a success of it all the critics will be profoundly astonished.
 Some of those shelters in the trenches look cozy enough, but the chief obiecttfon to them is that nobody knows how long they will last
 English critics declare that American society leaves much to be desired. How ever, it is plentifully supplied with money.
 Uncle Sam is having a harder time pacifylng the relatives of national guardsmen than the guardsmen them- selves.
 Your average auto salesman may have a good line of talk" but the average y SPONIltel statesman IS a close second.
 
 The world waits impatiently to see what sort of super contrvance those enterprising Germans will invent next. With big war on his hands, it's sur prising how much American mail John Bull finds time to glance through.  During the past month close study was given to two monsters of the deep-the shark and the submarine
 General Shuts wants to fight to the bitter end. The chances are his wish will be gratified
 There's nothing like old General Alarm to speed up the anti-typhoid vaccinations.
 MT Hughes hasn't said anything vet that has caused MT. Wilson to view with alarm.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
A TIP TO WASHERWOMEN From the Philadelphia Record.

Newport, R. Because they use te
 much water and too little soap wome
 do not get the same dazzling whitenes
 in their washed clothes asdo the Unite States marines, Sergt. Clarence D Rhoades of the marine corps told party of society women visiting the ba tleship Utah.
 "The eye-paining brilliancy of o, white clothes is due to the fact tn; we wash with our heads as well as ol hands, and we let soap do it's prop. share of the work. Just enough water to thorough wet the wash is sufficient" the SCI geant continued. land the less watt and more soap one uses. the whiter tf washing will turn out" The visitors seemed greatly in pressed with the lesson given them an art that is dear to every woman heart.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.

' TOIH the HnllaQ0lpnla HuDuC LeuSer.
 IVY E haven't had any imaginary
 w conversations with dead authors
 for so long time that, in lieu of distinguished literary talent and be- cause we are in the dog days, we shall have to take more than kindly, perhaps. to the ouija board (planchette) talks of Mark Twain now issuing from St. Louis. They seem to be, perhaps. because they are edited in transit, of a superior gram matical quality to most of the mediumis- tic outpourings; but they also seem to have lost the keen edge of Marks hu- mor unless the frank confession of the author of "Huckleberry Finn that there are mo reporters in hell because, maybe, his satanic majesty does not want to have his kingdom reported may be viewed as a test of the genuneness of the communica tions and as possessing the old raciness.
 This interesting fact about the report CTS will give cold comfort to the many estimable persons, magnates and others looming large in public life, who have consigned the profession to the neither spheres these many years. Mark also ayers that he communicated with the earth because The did not want People to think he preferred to go roaming around playing bad music on a harp he was not familiar with instead of talk
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
A HITLESS NAVY?
rom the Kansas City Times.

Y IOiH Iilc hdHSdS Clly IihiCSs
 "HE Senate naval bill which repairs
 the neglect of past years in bring
 ing the navy up to the standard vainly recommended by the general board will do what legislation can do for the fleet but no more. And something more than legislation, something more than building new and bigger ships is re- quired to raise the navy to the place of efficiency it must occupy as the coun- try's first line of defense.
 It is too easy to measure the navy by the number of ships of various classes and too easy to rest in the belief that each one of its ships is bound to be equal in fighting value to ship of the same class in any other navy. But that is not a true measure. Ships, of whatever class, have a fighting value no higher than the craftsmanship of their gun crews, and there have been recurring revelations of late that the navy is not a hitting navy.
 The question of maintaining secrecy about the navy's shooting record is one on which naval officers differ. To the layman it would seem that publicity would help by stirring the crews to their best efforts, but the naval administra- ton does not hold that view. It has withheld the records made by the ships in practice, despite the fact generally agreed to by naval officers that foreign governments have no difficulty whatever in finding out what those records are. But the American people, who would seem to have an equal interest in the information, do not find out except through unofficial channels
 Golfers now supplies such informa- tion, on authority it deems sufficient, of the hitting record of six battleships in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
TWAIN ON HEAVEN AND-

ing philosophy. Well, of course, there1 no accounting for tastes, even in Spoolj dom, but it is to be noted that the grea| humoristss disinclination to stand by thl harp fits in with our larger perception d it's shortcomings in these days of the tre| mendous increase in orchestral techniqu| which exposes the relatively small par| the harp does play in modern musid Looming large on the monuments q Rameses, and highly esteemed in Creed no less than in Tara, the harp these day| is mere musical accessory after th| fact. used sparngly by few and escheweI by many composers. Asa heavenly ad
 junct to realms of bliss and of pure de| light it has fallen from its high estatd Hence Marks dsdain is quite logical.
 But. of course, this is mere preludiz| ing, for it seems the St. Louis ouiia, Il prove the genuineness of the Twain com| muncations, will send down few storieI in the old familiar style and then we cal all decide whether heaven or the othe| place has made the deeper impression o| the shade and whether style as we'll al sense survives the efforts of mediums t tap the undiscovered country In vie1 of the horrors of the average comm,I nication, whether Caesar or Lincoln d
 the Queen of Sheba be the speaker, then is little ground to hope that even Man will outwit the usual slop and sleeze d mediumship.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07

The ranges are not given, but we know that the battle of Jutland was fought al ranges of eight miles and more in mist, weather, low visibility and in thick cur tains of smoke, despite all of which tn, would the Rhode Island have done in tha battle?
 It is plain, then, that the letdown il the navy has not been a matter who'll, of building neglect. While the construc ton programmes of the general boart have been ignored year after year, ther, has been equal inertia in the prformanc, of fleet routine indispensable to fightin, readiness. Target practice has been al most abandoned, fleet maneuvers have been given up or only partly carried out and ships that ought to be on the activ, list are out of commission, tied up al dock This is the condition of navJ which only eight years ago was reck oned the equal of any in the world il fighting essentials. and which would to day, if the continuous building pro grammes of the general board had beel carried out, be second in tonnage
 The Senate does we'll to double th House bills building programme for capi tai ships, and even to go ahead of th general boards recommendations of la a year in an endeavor to catch up, bu until crews are provided and trained Il make hits with the guns which the neJ ships will carry, the new navy, wheI completed, will be no better than the old
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
HEARD HORSE TALK

From the Kansas City Times.
 conversation in horse language was overheard by the Jefferson City Capital News which did a little eavesdropping when it saw an express driver leave his team standing in the broiling sum- The conversation was like this: I'm getting very warm said Pearl. big, intelligent gray mare. Now you're talking" said Dick. fine old bay. Let's hunt shade The driver won't care'' Then, according to the story, they dragged their hitching weights over to the shady side of the Capitol building and waited for the driver to return.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
HIS STRANGE SYMPTOMS

rom the hdIISdS CIty SLaT.
 q have the most peculiar symptoms said the Hon. John R. Trickery. "I find myself telling the truth when lie would do just a well. I catch myself endea- voring to redeem the promises l made before election, and every now and then I attempt to do some one service without first asking myself what there Is in it for me. I have occasional lapses of memory during which l forget all about the necessity of working for re- election. Doctor, you must do some- thing for mel I fear I mlosing my mind"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07

By Sir Walter Scott
 Lcne on the outskirts of the host
 The weary sentinel held post.
 And sights before his eye aghast
 Invisible to all had passed,
 When down the destined plain,
 Twixt Britain and the bands of France, Wild as marsh-borne meteor's glance, Strange phantoms wheeled a revel dance
 And doomed the future slain
 An indistinct and phantom band,
 They wheeled their ring-dance hand in hand,
 With gestures wild and dread;
 The seer. who watched them ride the storm,
 Saw through their faint and shadowy The ightnings flash more red; And still their ghastly roundelay
 Was of the coming battle-fray,
 And of the destined dead. Wheel the wild dance While lightnngs glance And thunders rattle loud, And call the brave To bloody grave. To sleep without shroud. Our airy feet So light and fleet They do not bend the rye That sinks it's head when whirlwinds rave. And swells again in eddying wave. As each wild gust goes by; But still the corn. At dawn or morn, Our fatal steps that bore At eve lies waste, A trampled paste Of blackening mud and gore. Wheel the wild dance While lightnings glance And thunders rattle loud.
 And call the brave
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
FAST PHILADELPHIA

From the New York Telegram.
 Who says Philadelphia is slow Early in the last century Philadelphia was the first of the northern cities to admit wom- en to the pits of its theatres and vis- tors from quiet Boston and commercial New York at one time condemned it's social tone as fast. because its young men gave wine suppers. and because it danced to the music of full colored or chestra while other cities danced to tunes furnished by one or two musicians.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
MsA1AH, ON THE STAGE

From the Spokane Spokesman-R Review.
 Students of Isaiah" have noticed the dramatic features and factors in the work and have wondered whether these might not be successfully developed and effectively staged. Prof. Eleanor Wood of Wellesley has grappled with the prob lem, and from the material constructed a religious play which is characterized as vivid, picturesque, impressive and hu- man.
 It opens with a scene at the court of the temple. Jehovah's feast is cele- brated, and there is no lack of mun- dane merriment. Isaiah appears de- nounces the belles of Jerusalem and re- bukes the worshipers as insincere. They laugh him to scorn, but mourners enter to announce the Kings death, and mock cry yields place to lamentation. In the second scene of act one Isaiah is repre- sented as called to the prophetship and as inspired by an invisible heavenly cho- rus. In the third he chants his song of the vineyard and denounces the mer- chants of the oriental bazaar
 These scenes sufficiently express the realism with which the setting of the play is done throughout, and make it needless to exemplify them in fuller de- tall The personages appear to have stepped out of the old orient, and the superb prophet of Israel and his Judear folk come to life. Isaiah is depicted ir the. first act simply as preacher of ..; ht1fi ho and tht ryi acts as statesman also, counselor oi kings and vindicator for the faithfulness of Jehovah in his dealings with his cove nant people.
 "Isaiah' is one of the difficult books
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
of the district bank from which he bor-

of the district bank from which he bor- rows.
 This borrowed money will benefit all. as it will be spent for new machinery new wagons live stock and other neces- sary improvements; corporations and stock farms will advertise their wares, and through many other channels the general public will be helped.
 It's the best law passed at this ses- sion; it will build up the backbone of our countryside farmer"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-07
Birmingham Has Changed

True, indeed, Birmingham is the Magic City" said Edgar Loves of Flor ida, who is at the Motion for a few days. T have not been in Birming- ham before in 19 years. A wonderful change can take place in that time. Why, when I was here last Birming ham was only a village. I am on my way to St. Louis, but I thought there must have been some mistake and I had arrived there instead of Birmingham when my train pulled in. T came to Birmingham when I was IS years old, just at the time of the boom, and when I got off the train III the Louisville and Nashville station, it took me 10 minutes to get to First ave- nue, the streets were so crowded. That was a time when people from every direction were Hooking to Birming- ham for the boom. When I left here 21 years ago she was still booming g and was in the same fix when I re- turned 19 years ago for a visit Now am glad to see much the same condi tion when I return in 1916. From what I have learned since coming to Bir mingham. believe the city Is enjoying more prosperity than any town In the south.
 "Of course, when I was here last, Birmingham was only village, and I was all turned around when I ar rived and faced the magnificent sky scrapers. It seems like the stories one hears about New York tearing down little insignificant 10-story structures to erect buildings in their places
 In speaking of Florida, Mir. Loves stated that the rains for the month of July were comparatively light and that crops in that country were in fine condition. Farmers in that section are very prosperous, he said, most of them owning automobiles. Good roads are also being stressed and recently $1,- 500,000 had been appropriated for good roads building. He will leave Birming- ham for St. Louis this morning.