davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
The Great Reunion

Although Appomattox is 51 years behind us these Confederate reunions have not lost their vitalizing energy.
 Judging from this splendid reunion in Birmingham the interest in the vet erans' organization shows no sign of waning. Of the six or seven thousand old soldiers here to march in Thurs days parade, fully four-fifths of them could stand almost any physical test of endurance. Many of the veterans could endure days march and be ready for battle; and since such a large percentage of the heroes who followed the stars and bars are in fit condition for military service there will be no serious thought of discon- tinuing the reunions in the very near future.
 In 1894 and in 1908 Birmingham was the host city. On the first occa- sion-22 years ago, only 29 years after the war-the organized Confed- crate veterans numbered 150,000 or more, and the attendance at the re- union here then was relatively large It was a joyous affair.
 By 1908 death had thinned the ranks to such an extent that 12,00O of the survivors made showing here, which was considered remarkable. But to- day every veteran and every observer expresses surprise and delight at the large percentage of the gallant rem- nant able to attend.
 This reunion will unquestionably pass into history as the most bril- liant and enjoyable ever held in Bir- mingham. Only two cities have been honored with as many as three re- unions-Richmond and Nashville but if many of the veterans continue to keep young few years longer Birmingham may yet be so fortunate as to play reunion host for a fourth time. The opportunity, at any rate, would be quickly seized.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
State Music Clubs Convention

The organization of Music Clubs of Alabama will hold it's first annual convention in Birmingham tomorrow. Many of the delegates from various parts of the state are already here, being prominent in the social activi- ties of the reunion. But on Thursday, when the convention is called to order, the most energetic opponents of musi- cal culture in Alabama will be in place.
 The love of good music has become more and more widespread, and the appreciation of musical art in gen. eral education is now playing an im- partant part in the educational sys- tenn of the more progressive states.
 In Alabama there has been a marked advance in musical standards within very recent years. In Mont gomery, Mobile, Tuscaloosa and other cities discriminating audiences attend artist recitals, and whenever a sym phony orchestra "comes to town" an eager crowd can be counted on for attendance.
 It is to foster this improved taste and to organize the latent forces that will make for greater musical devel- opment that the clubs are co-operat- ing and planning for solid work in all cultural agencies.
 The delegates to Thursdays con vention will meet with an enthusiastic reception. Birmingham is generally acknowledged to be the foremost musical city in the south, but it needs and earnestly desires the support of other musical communities in order that it's influence in the divinest of the arts may be all the more inspira- tional and far-reaching.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
Fnr a Little Child

Chicago's cabarets have agaln been under fire and footpads in the city oy
 the lake are famous for their ettl- ciency, but Chicago is not all bad not by any means. The city has a olg heart and is as quick to extend help ing hand as it is to trim" the un- wary visitor from the rural districts who comes to town for good tlme' by heck!
 The child of Jewish family living m the South Side, in moderate clr- cumstances, was battling for it's life against pneumonia. The doctor sald that fresh air and quiet would be lm- perative for the little sufferer. A municipal order was immediately is- sued by Chief of Police Healey estab- fishing ''zone of silence" about the humble home of this infant and clos ing to traffic sections of two of the busiest streets in that part of the city. Those two thoroughfares were fenced off and the voices of children passing on their way to and from school were hushed.
 This was done for the sake of a baby whose parents have neither wealth nor social standing, and the father has probably never been able to ''swing a vote" in his life, yet one of Chicago's pork barons could not have received a more ready response to an appeal to help save the life of his child and no doubt the big police men patrolling beats in that neighbor- hood were even more vigilant in en- forcing the chiefs order than they would have been if it concerned a millionaire.
 Stories of this kind in the newspa- pers exert far wider appeal to the sympathies than the account of mis- guided female who recently told a gathering of club women in Seattle that educated and cultured women should not be permitted to become mothers" and the idea that any sa- credness attaches to motherhood is all bosh. Fortunately for the future of the human race, sensational utter ances of this sort are usually taken for just about what they are worth.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
LINCOLN'S ANCESTRY

second cousin of Abraham Lincoln. who of the family I have ever met. Neither has he nor any others of that family whom I have met in the past 8 years ever admitted to me that they were Ger mans or that their name was ever Link horn The house built by President Lincolns great-grandfather is still stand ing, and occupied, in Oley township, iBerks county, and photographs of it are for sale in Reading, as well as pho- tographs of the house in Oley township in which Daniel Boone, of Kentucky fame, was born in 173i.
 The Boones, Morgans and Lincolns in- termarried, and what is worthy of notice is that President Lincoln and Daniel Boone were related; Mordecai Lincoln, the great-grandfather of President Lin coin, was a son of James Lincoln, wno married Anne Boone.
 I met several in Berks county, 30 years ago, who knew Mr. Lincoln and who met him in Berks county and with whom MT. Lincoln stopped. In an account of his life written at the request of my uncle of Springfield, H., to Jesse Fell of Bloomington, H., Mr. Lincoln states that efforts to identify his people (the Lfn- colns) with the Lincolns of New Eng land, only resulted in a similarity of Christian names, such as Abraham, Nor decai and the like. The Lincolns of Berks county were granted a large body of land by the King of England.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
A "TERRIBLE MISTAKE

From Answers, London.
 As he buttoned up his overcoat before setting off on motor tour, Jones asked his chauffeur a few questions.
 ''Car all ready? Have you put the spare inner tubes in the tonneau?"
 'Yessir''
 Are the repair tools in the box, and plenty of petrol in the tank?"
 "Yessir," replied the man again, pa- tiently.
 "Oiled it thoroughly?''
 'Yessir." And this time he reeled off list of places to which he had applied the oil can.
 The motorists face grew black when he finished.
 "Why, you fool,'' he broke in, you have forgotten the most important place of all!'
 The chauffeur stared at him in surprise.
 You've forgotten the number plate at the back" snapped Jones. "Take the can and squirt some oil on it. Then the dust will stick to it. Never forget to oil the number plate.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
Excellent Training


 While a company of the Alabama Ma tional Guard is on active duty at Capito park taking care of the Orphans Brl' gade' of Kentucky, Capt. John T. Evans is taking the opportunity of breaking 1T a few recruits. Several were noticed by the crowds yesterday at their drills
 eve are breaking in all the rockies we can," said Captain Evans, as IT these hours when the world is practically at war we must be prepared for the worst As conditions are at the present time we may be called out to the Mexican border at any moment.
 we are conducting this camp as if or the front on active duty. The men keer regular guard and are fed by the com missary. Strict military discipline is main tained and it provides excellent training for the local boys, who apparently are en- toying it hugely"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
The Telephone Service

According to Manager George B. Knox of the local branch of the Southern Bell Telephone company the rush of calls al the Birmingham exchange has necessi tated the services of 29 extra operators.
 "In order to keep up with the rest of the city in properly taking care of the re- union crowds and the residents said Manager Knox, i've planned ahead by en- gazing over a score of extra operators; in fact, 29 in all. These operators were placed on the switchboards on Monday morning and it was very fortunate that we had taken these precautions as the traffic on the local telephone wires has been trebled the past two days. As g matter of fact. the switchboards are 2 continuous blaze of flashes
 However despite the heavy traffic we have managed to hold our own and have evidently given general satisfaction, as no complaints have been registered.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
Rural Credits Legislation

Another of the large and popular measures on the administrations leg islative programme-rural credits-is soon to be enacted into law.
 The Senate bill and the House bill, as they were amended and passed, are alike in their essentials. Both pro- vide for federal farm loan board and 12 regional land banks, which would lend money to farmers at 6 per cent maximum rate, through the medium of local land associations, on five to 25 or 26-year mortgages. These mortgages would form the ba- sis for the issuance of farm loan bonds.
 The House bill, framed by the banking and currency committee which gave the country the admirable federal reserve bank system, is more liberal in some of it's provisions than the Senate bill, and it is believed that when the conferees finish their work a measure will be reported which will retain the best points agreed upon by the two houses and at the same time safeguartl Uncle Sam's standing as a banker
 crrhe farmers are the great produc- CTS of the worlds wealth. In the United States fully two-thirds of the wealth comes directly from the soil and is the result of the husbandman's industry; and yet the farmer has not been able to borrow money when he needed it with the same facility or on as low terms as the merchant or manufacturer. This condition has been due largely to the farmers lack of business system and economic or ganization.
 Rural credits laws in Europe have operated well. In most cases they
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
Vets for Highway

''This is my first visit to Birmingham '' said Joseph E. Pottle of Milledgeville, Ga, who is here for the reunion, 'but let me assure you it will not be my last. This is a real city, and I shouldn't be at all surprised to learn that you have Atlanta bested in more than one thing
 MT. Pottle was a visitor to The Age Herald office yesterday afternoon, accom- panied by John w. Bale of Rome. Ga.
 ''We are going to put that Forrest high way right through to Birmingham, said Mir Bale, "and when it is completed we can come over to Birmingham in a few hours in automobiles Then we will visit your city often and will get better ac- quainted with it''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17

F. M. S., in the Pittsburg Gazette-Times
 A FEW days ago I saw in one of
 the Pittsburg papers a. statement A that Abraham Lincoln was of German descent, and that the name was Linkhorn some of that name still living in Berks county, Pa" This is not true. The history of Berks county, and the Berks County Historical society have the record of the Lincoln family, and there is no proof the Lincoln family was ever "Linkhorn."
 Berks county, Pa, is one of the very old counties of this state, and prominent among the pioneer settlers and land own CTS were the names and families of the Lincolns, Boones and Morgans, who set tied in what is now Oley township. The Lincolns, members of the Congregational church, came from New England, and it is claimed from Marthas Vineyard, Mass. The writer of this article was surprised some years ago, while in Brockton, Mass, to meet MT. Lincoln who looked so much like President Abraham Lincoln that he remarked it. MT. Lincoln of Brockton said T have never been told that before, and have no doubt that the Presidents ancestors in Berks county, Pa. and my ancestors were the same; all came from Lincolnshire, Eng, and were, believe, of Norman origin
 There is now living in Reading Cor was some four years ago) MT. Lincoln, a
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
JOB roo STEADY

From the Springfield Republican.
 A southern man tells of negro named Theophilus Baxter, known as "the cham pion banjo player of Alabama"
 Wishing to afford northern friend an example of real negro music, Mobile woman went to Baxter's house with a view to enlisting his services at a musical function. She found his wife instead.
 ''Very sorry, missy" said Baxter's spouse, "but Theophilus, he ain't p'ayin' de banjo any more. He jest puts in all his time fishin' now
 What led him to give up his playing?'' asked the disappointed caller. Has he got religion?''
 NO, missy; he ain't got religion, but he's done got skeered."
 Scared? Of what?"
 "Of dat minstrel show. honey. De boss learns dat my ole man kin play. an he offers him a stiddy job doin' it. Yassum an it skeered Theophilus so bad dat he quite banjo p,ayin' right away
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
CRIME STIRS TWISTED q the New York Herald.

From the New YorK Herald.
 WinSted, Conn.-"Jed" Holiday S scarecrow, Simeon III, was robbed of his makeup while working recently in the cornfield of the Holiday farm, losing a small and conservative derby hat, pair of open work trousers, one bay walking
 coat and a rope belt. Old clothes men have been put upon the scent of the cul- prit, which is remarkably clear, and they can be heard baying through the Berk- shire Hills.
 The robbery which was accomplished with remarkable boldness, was accom- plished by unnecessary brutality, the head of the scarecrow having been knocked more than 20 feet The motive, in the opinion Of the Winstead police, was personal adornment.
 Late in the afternoon Mrs. Holiday saw a familiar figure passing the house. He was just a shade more active than Simeon III and had about the same fa- cial appearance. She was struck by the similarity of his street costume with that of Simeon's professional garb.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17

have proved most beneficial. The pending legislation in Congress is formulated along the same general lines as the land loan associations in vogue in certain of the countries in the old world.
 The new system in the United States will not invite or suggest "wild cat" financing, but it will make it easy for every farmer who is en- titled to credit to borrow money at a low rate of interest and without any embarrassment to himself when he seeks financial aid.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17

From the Cincinnati Times-Star.
 A veteran of New York regiment
 which served in the Spanish-American
 war is out with a circular in which he
 asks newspapers to help popularize
 Johnny Trump" as nickname for the American soldier. The wwriter quotes
 Brig. Gen. F. D. Grant, U. S. A., as say ing the name is a good one.'
 Many nations have affectionate nick names for their fighting men. The Amer ican soldier is entitled to one which is
 worthy of his fine spirit and record Johnny Trump" however, is not alto- gether impressive. It has a manufac-
 tured flavor Moreover it might inspire some one to quote from Brewers Die
 tionary of Phrases and Fables to the ef- feet that Trump means in the collo-
 quial sense, "to trump up, to devise or make up falsely; to concoct." Most of us admire the American soldier too much to subject him to any such unfair chance.
 The British Tommy Atkins received
 his name in a peculiar and not particu-
 larly romantic manner. Many years ago the British government gave each soldier a record DOCK Tn Wnlch ne was ordered to inscribe his personal record. AS an aid to this laborious duty, the soldier was furnished with sample sheet in which the name Tommy Atkins was printed, in place of our own anonymous John Doe.'' In this way the nickname was born. But although it's origin was pro- saic, the name has since come to acquire in the British heart considerable TO- ] nance
 Today the English soldier calls the Ger | man fighting man Fritz or "F'ritzie,'' although those names are probably not l recognized in Germany. Names have been | manufactured easily in the present war | Some day the American fighter will
 have a name for himself which the na- tion will like. It probably will not be Johnny Trump It must be born spon- taneously, out of some great deed or characteristic or sacrifice if it is to live. | And when it is born we may be very sure that it will have the right ring.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17

The necessity of removing water from the flooded district of North Holland has revived the idea of drying the Builder Zee, a recording to Commercial Attache Erwin w. Thompson, who writes from The Hague. A bill for appropriating money for this work is now pending before the Netherlands Parliament. It is estimated that the cost will be $So.O00,0Oo. The largest dam will be about 15 miles long and an average of 20 feet in height. IT the Zuider Zee were drained off the new dams would take the place of several hundred miles of dykes which now pro- tect the lowlands from the Zuider Zee. The dykes do not afford adequate pro- lection. When a strong northwest wind blows the waters of the North sea into the Zuider Zee the latter rises and over flows the meadows. There are at present 40, 600 acres flooded in North Holland. All ol this territory is below the level of the sea and is protected from the North sea for the most part by line of natural dunes, supplemented by dykes built of granite. On the east side earth embank-
 ments protect the province from the Zuider Zee In January these dykes were bI oken through in a number of places and the country flooded. A number of steam pumping stations are scattered throughout this district. and they will be used to get rid of the surplus water after the flood has been drained off to a cer- tam level.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
ALL FOR LOVE

By Lord Byron. o talk not to me of name great in
 story; & The days of our youth are the days of
 our glory; " And the myrtle and ivy of. sweet two
 and-twenty Are worth all your laurels, though even
 so plenty. What are garlands and crowns to the
 brow. that is wrinkled? Iris but as dead flower with Maydew
 besprinkled; F Then away with all such from the head
 that is hoary What care I for the wreaths that can
 only give glory? Oh fame!--if I e'er took delight in thy
 praises Twas less for the sake of thy high
 sounding phrases. Than to see the bright eyes of tie dear
 one discover She thought that I was not unworthy
 to love her. There chiefly I sought thee. there only
 I found thee Her glance was the best of the rays that n surround thee; When it sparkled OCT aught that was
 bright in my story kpAwEit Nasl love. and felt it ysA e7t.sla F2ff o12 |. 9ss..
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
MAX REGER

From the New York Globe.
 Max Roger is dead. Ten years ago that fact would have meant more to musicians than it does today. Ten years ago Max Roger was the bogey man of music. Today his terrors are forgotten in Arnold Schoenberg. When Richard Strauss was still an ultramodern, when the learned ladies of all lands still prat- tied about Debussy's whole tone scale, Max Roger loomed a new menace learned intricate, perpleXing, sinister in his unlovely art of dissonance. Soon little people began to like some of the little things he wrote and big wigs began to like some of the big things, and Zan- Leo Ornstein came along, and the short and the long of it for Reger was when people no longer trembled at his dread name they began to forget him. Max Roger was much more of name 10 years ago than he was the day of his death.
 And yet Roger numbered his years when he died at only 43, and those 43 years covered a period of enormous in- dustry and production. Few composers, WudleVSF t1o l6ISLu OI lH0lF OdyS, QdNe been so prolific. Roger was a contra puntist He chose Bach for his mas ter; perhaps he aspired to be a twen- tieth century Bach. But Batch did not habitually modulate three times in a measure, and in spite of the relative crudity of his instrumental resources, Bach showed a sense of instrumental col bring that Reger with the unlimited or cfestra of today at his command did not It was really this deficient feeling for beauty in sound (whatever the nature of the beauty may bel that limited fatally the achievement of the prolific Roger.
 One after another these makers of dis sonance, these terrific innovators, these uncrowned kings of unmusic, pass the sceptre on. None of them reigns for long. Wagner reigned till dethroned by Richard Strauss; then came Debussy, Reger, Schoenberg, and so they go. A great fuss is made about the sins of each until of sudden someone correlates his work as an entirety to music as the world has known before. Then is must stand the universal test-the intrinsic genius that is in it. Forms and manners change; genius is eternal In it's essence the case of Max Reger is the case of Johann Sebastian Bach, but Bach has stood the test immeasurably better
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-17
HOTEL LOBBIES
Louisiana Editor Here

W. H. Scanland, editor of the Bos- sier Banner, of Benton, La, is with the Louisiana contingent at the reunion and looks hale and hearty.
 T have been editing the Bossier Ban ner continuously since 1852" said MT. Scanland, "and have never missed an issue except during the war. I have been at it for long time in spite of the fact that when I applied to learn the printers trade I was given discour- agement at the start. Boy-like, l asked an editor how long it would take me to learn the business. Well, young man. he said, T doubt if you will ever learn it; I have been at it 25 years and have not learned the business yet my self"