davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

the side of Pelham bay, opening out into Long Island sound. Looking out over the bay we see the gleam of -he lighthouse. out in the sound itself, and the mellow moon is silvering the silent water There is no sound save the whirr of automobiles. and that, in- deed. is all that makes us realize that 2 we are in New York after all. For never have we been out of sight of other cars. Ahead of us their red tail lights are visible for apparently mile, looking behind we behold the endless procession always coming on. It is a sight to thrill. One imagines that his ancestors beholding it. would perhaps have thought of ghostly eyes of the night. A silence unbroken save by these whirring, gliding cars; per- feet moon cleaning through trea branches on all sides. the waters of Pelham bay rippling ever so lightly and the endless line of moving electric units of light, like uncanny eyes of tho night. always rowing. always searching for some unknown prey. #
 Off Pelham parkway into Pelham road We turn always followed by the stream of motors Far ahead of us now gleam the lights of City Island and there are said to exist characters who would be as much out of place on Broadway as if they had never seen any other coun- try than the wilds of Iceland
 Upon City Island we find life in imi- tation. however, of the upper Broadway brand There are cafes, restaurants of various p-etensions, and signs indicating that enc may dance and dine in any number of places with very attractive eXteriors. t-least. But we are scheduled for the very point of the Island, and ras ching it, we find the automobiles in De, --ct msas -nsv ero so hacked in that it is utterly imposs-o-, .o< one ff them tr ryar out those in its rear have maneuvered to clear passage. The view of the sound
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The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

of all its many sides. It is already late afternoon and his car throbs and trem- bles in front of the imposing entrance to our apartment building on West 1O4th street. Its suppressed engine murmurs promise a reserve energy that is an actual exhilaration to the pres- pective occupants. By his side sits vision of Manhattan loveliness and in the big tonneau smiles replica there of-already the humidity has lost much of it's over to attract our attention.
 With a whirr. almost immediately followed by the softer song of perfect machinery, we are off in the direc- ton of Riverside Drive. and in an other moment we are rolling northWard over it's gleaming macadam, oily from the constant passing of automobiles
 At our left the blue waters of the Hud- son are stained with the crimson of the setting sun. The tide is turning, and the vessels at their moorings here and there seem to hesitate in their slow shifting of position, as if uncertain whether to face toward the architectural wonders of Man haitian, or to watch the beautiful death of cloudless day as the sun sinks leisurely behind the majestic Palisades.
 Swiftly we glide by Grants tomb, and its inscription, Let us have peace" never seemed more appropriate than upon this afternoon of alleged record humidity. The imposing Claremont reminds us that the dinner hour approaches, but the invita- ton on the drive Is more insistent and we speed onward, one of a multitude of motoring parties; one of an endless stream of soft whirring machines.
 Soon we are off the drive proper, and upon the upper boulevard. Here it is as if New York were left behind, though we are still upon Manhattan. At our right rises long range of hills that are mountainous. and they are ccvered with growth of real forest monarchs. At our left. and far below, the. Hudson has changed to deeper blue as twilight ap- peared, and with her own starry robe
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

again, we discover that a moon IS shining. Along the drive. and crossing the borough of Manhattan we had not noticed it. Broadway seldom recog- nizes other moons than those which advertise it's own attractions, but out here. above the city. in sense, or at least above that part of it where that which is miscalled "The Life is led, the moon receives its need of recog hilton and of praise. The sky is cloud less, the humidity is not forgotten-it simply exists no longer-anc we are again, leaving the Grand Concourse and soon speeding through Fordham, once a town. now section Of New York city. We pass the site of the farth- est north subway station of the new subway soon to be put in operation, and opposite that, at our left, the beau tiful, moonlit grounds of Fordham university spread themselves out be- fore us.
 A little ahead flows the Bronx river. Not much more than a creek. in reality, but fairly ripping with romance in its pretty course through Bronx park. IL was of this stream that Poe wrote often and it was this stream that was frequently his inspiration.
 We are now we'll away from what is generally known as New York city proper though we are actually stii. within the city limits. nor. as l prom ised. shall we leave them this even ing Beyond Bronx park and Fordham we find ourselves upon Pelham Park way. And this is actually in the city of New York! we exclaim; the city of skyscrapers. heat and humidity The fact is unbelievable at first. The moon with as fair a countenance as she ever turned upon a southern scene. is look ing at us through the treetops; the scent of the country. and already suggestion of salt water is in our nos- trils; there are great fields spread out on one side of us. and farther along we find ourselves travelling by
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

preparations We have no shaving soap for less than 50 cents tube cake or packet; and no toothbrushes under that price, Our people do not object to the prices, but they insist on the goods being first class, so we buy only the best.
 But these prices are small compared with what we got when I first started business the druggist went on. T used to charge s1 for mustard plaster, S1 for a two-grain quinine pill and 50 cents an ounce for castor oil. l sold my seidlitz powders at s1 apiece and flax seed for $32 a pound, The latter was used largely for coughs and colds, which were common during cold weather. The miners made tea of it, and served it in one way or another"
 Speaking o the old time prices. I hear stories everywhere as to the enor- nous cost of things in the days of the gold rush.. All timed goods were sold at $5 per, can, no matter whether it was to- matoes. canned corn or canned beans: canned meats were traded for at a third of an ounce each in gold dust or nuggets,
 At one time the universal price for all sorts of supplies and provisions was $1 per pound MT. William H. Fairbanks. now vice president of the Northern Com mercial company, tells me he once bought an outfit in Dawson for $500. It weighed 800 pounds It consisted of provisions and supplies of all kinds. and shovels and nails brought the same amount per pound as cornmeal and rice. At that time flour cost $50 sack, firewood $40 a cord, and hay from $500 to $500 ton. Nothing was sold cheap.
 A man was telling last night of Jack McQuesten. who lived at Forty Mile, a camp on the Yukon. McQuesten's store was in a log cabin and he had goods of every description. One day a miner came in and asked for a needle He was handed out one and told that the price was 75 cents. The man took the needle between his thumb and finger, looked hard at it, and then asked Mc- Questen:
 Say pard, aint you mistaken? Can't you make it bit cheaper? That's a hell of price for needle.
 No said the storekeeper, ''Td like to if could. But, man. just think of the freight!''
 I am writing this in midsummer We had a football match here last night. It did not end until after 10 o'clock. and moving pictures were taken about the close of the game Since I have been here 1t has been so light that could read print out of doors at any time during the "A hours. I can now take pictures at midnight by giving a slight time exposure, and in the latter part of June one can make snapshots between 12 and 1 in the morning. It is no trouble to get excellent photogra phs between and Il p. m. and at any time after o'clock in the morning. The sun
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

mer In the heart of midwinter, when the hens go on strike, eggs go to S5 a dozen In early days they sometimes $1 apiece
 Leaving the grocer, I went to To- quacious butcher hard by and asked him the prices of meat. The butcher was clad in white and his shop was as clean as pin. A pink salmon that weighed 10 or 12 pounds lay on hls white marble counter. He was cutting it up into steaks which he sells at 25 cents pound. He told me the salrion had been caught near the city and that it had travelled 1700 miles up the Yukon to get to the market The flesh Is not as tender as that of the salmon caught nearer the ocean f7
 I picked out a fine porterhouse steak and asked the price. The butcher re- piled: That cut is 55 cents pound, but can give you slice off the neck for 35 cents. Beef is now selling for from 30 to 55 cents. depending on where the cut comes from. Our beef is excellent It has to be brought in from the states. and the freight rates are so HlSn lndl we Sdiiiiol oAAcAo hS import skinny animals. Indeed, the freight cost is quite as much as the first cost of the beef"
 ] asked as to game. The butcher said: All game is cheap We sell moose and caribou steaks and roasts at 20 or 25 cents a pound. As to bear, the people won't eat it, it is too tough. We have plenty of caribou in the win | |, in numbers and bring in the hind quar- ters. They sell them to us or peddle them about from house to house. The foreparts of the animals they feed to their dogs. This country is also full of grouse and ptarmigan. and any one can get game in the winter if he will go out and hunt for it Grouse bring 75 cents each by the dozen. Large ducks are worth SIP dozen and small ones s."
 My next call was at the drug store. where I paid quarter for a bottle Of pop I complained of the cost, and the druggist pioneer gold miner, told me something of how he sold drugs in early days The mans name is Cribbs, He had a drug store in Pittsburg be- fore he came to hunt gold in the Klon- dike away back in 1898 He did fairly well mining, but thought there was more money in drugs, and his story makes me think he was right. Said MT. Cribbs:
 ''At present everything brings prarti- cally double the price of the states. Nothing is sold for less than 25 cents. You cannot buy one quinine pill. but must take an amount that equals a quarter in value. Ordinary patent medi- cines that cost % cents outside bring 50 cents here. That is so of all toilet
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

vies with the beauties of the better known Riverside Drive. though entirely different. Trees line it's side and grow in it's center, bordering the driveway for automobiles and the central space fo.' horse-drawn vehicles. Far below to the right, as we speed northward, glow myriads of Bronx lights and at our left is succession of parks. each, apparently, more beautiful than the one just passed
 Suddenly at about One Hundred and Ninety-fourth street.. our host of the evening pulls his car in at the curb, just in front of a tiny white cottage, hardly bigger than the tonneu in which we are seated. The cottage is situated in park, trees grow all about it. clover dots the grass around its little steps and porch. and one of it's several small windows is aglow
 First comes the thought that it is such a ridiculous little hut. but we find ourselves unable to smile at it in ridicule. There is something about the little place that almost awes us. even before we know what it is. As we leave the car and approach it. we see in the semi darkness a raven painted against one of it's white shingles without any further information we know that we stand upon the doorstep of the home of Edgar Allen Poe. In this little cottage he worked and suf- fered; here he mourned for his Lost Lenore," and here he gave to the world the despairing notes of "The Raven" From here he walked every step of the way to the office of the Post. a distance of at least IA miles in all kinds of weather. hoping to sell his always successful. The light that gleams in the window is that of the caretaker. but it is easy to imagine that the spirit of Poe sits therein writing, writing. and we won der if such spirit writings would give to the world some gleam of hope that the finite mind seemed to have lost.
 AS we turn toward the waiting car
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

However. it is a fact that on the hot test days of each summer-and extreme heat never remains more than two weeks at time upon Manhattan Island-there are vast armies of New Workers who find comfort, and who do not go beyond the city limits in their search for it.
 Let's take a case in point: Tuesday. July II, brought with 1t to Manhattan the humidity record for the season up to that date A number of heat pres trations and several deaths from the same cause were reported, together With lot of general discomfort and profuse perspiration No doubt there was real suffering among the tere- ment dwellers of the lower Eastside . no doubt that night they found sleep elusive, even when they sought 1t uron the fire escapes. But there are spe- cially uncomfortable localities in every city during the heated term and the lower Eastside is not all of New York city-not by about four and four fifths boroughs.
 But even the lower Eastsiders, who were possessed of as much as 10 cents. had within their grasp the possibil- ity for cooling ride to less humid section of the city, while millions of more fortunate inhabitants hardly realized how great was the humidity, unless they read the newspapers of that afternoon and the following morn ing.
 Will you spend that evening with me in retrospect? can assure you that we shall escape virtually all of the humidity and yet remain within the municipal boundaries of Greater Goth am We will consider the invitation accepted and the heat of the morning downtown almost unnoticed as a re- suit of our absorption in our inter-. esting duties.
 Permit me. then. to introduce our host, l.. C. Ferguson of Ferguson & Ferguson, a prominent young Manhat tan attorney who knows his New York from one end to the other. inclusive
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

wiped away the red stain left upon it's surface by the dying day
 We are passing through real country almost and were it not for the multi tude of cars, might easily imagine our selves far from the busy haunts.' At Dyckman street, however, we turn back. nothing loath to look again upon the scenes we had just passed through, and this time the call of the Claremont wins and we climb up to that highest of high priced restaurants, for a good dinner be- fore continuing our ride
 After all, few people know how to spend money like New Yorker They are called hard, but have they ever been called .close-fisted? It has been my experience that they can give 5 tip to waiter with more grace than the average small town native can part with q for Pull man porter, after he has profited for A two-day trip by his services. At any rate, you get the idea. The dinner de luxe (which I am sure means something) is enjoyed in the open air. and the ..trimmings'' put us in. a frame of mind no longer legally to be acquired in a number of southern states.
 Before dinner is concluded, the Drive, upon which we are looking, has changed to a veritable fairyland. Lights have begun to glow in, all directions. each whirrng motor now has. two electrfc eyes, and numerous Signs convey their, mes 'sages to us from the Jersey shore The Claremont itself is ablaze with electricity. but we must leave 1t. nevertheless. for even greater charms await our advent.
 This time the wheels of our car are set revolving toward the east. Cross- town we go. flirting with the speed limit along every block. then northward and now east again, over the little Harlem river and into the great borough of the Bronx.
 Beyond One Hundred and Sixtieth street we run out upon one of the most magnificent and inspiring of driveways It is called the Grand Concourse and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16
Battle Against
 King Alcohol

toes she no longur worries ovver the tummy ache but she Is wise to the fact he is fixing to get on jag Gut out the sweet potatoes Hyram, she seys, you air fixing to get stewed You know verry well that theere Is 1889 per cent akohol in potatoes Or "Hyram, ongur trust you; have been de- seeved and going to my muther at onse. l will not live with man who Is rushing blindly to drunkereds grave with no life insurense. You have been into my stove polish again.
 It is indeed happy privilege to have lived to see the day when the shrewdness of the deemun is heded off. and theere burst upon vision new of freedum frum his threlldum Far be it frum say nought that would interfeer with the progress of the times. The deemun rum must go; he must be handled viggerusly wherever he shows his poison tooth his clovven hoof Down with him not in the old way-but down with him for keeps Down with everything that has hint of him in it or about it. It may cost wrench inconvenience of sum 1ind--but at all costs the deemun must go. Alabama is bettur off without him.
 Yours trooly
 BILL VINES Washington, D. c.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

or upward the cold seems to burn out their lungs Still, there are horses that are wintered out in the open near Daw- son. They have been turned out in the fall to shift for themselves and have come out in the spring "hog fat.''
 Tn the midst of the winter the snow obstructs travelling. It is then so dry that the dogs pulling the sleds through it have to work as hard as though they were going through sand. Along in March and April the snow is moist and the roads grow better
 The ideal winter weather is when 1t is 15 or 9 degrees below zero, with a few hours of sunlight Then the snow IS fine and powdery. the air is dry and the sky is clear. The most depressing time is from the middle of December until the end fo January. Then comes the severe cold and the sun may not be seen for several weeks.
 It is this midwinter period that the fgruesonle poems of the Yukon describe. There are many such, including those of Robert w. Service. and especially his Cremation of Sam McGee." You re- member the story. how Sam McGee came from Tennessee and how he left his warm home in the sunny south to roam around the north pole, where:
 He was always cold, but the land of gold
 Seemed to hold him like spell; Though he'd often say in his homely way
 That he'd soonerelive in hell.
 The poet describes how Sam froze to death on the trail above Dawson and how, before he died. he made his part ner promise to "cremate his last re- mains" This was done between here and White Horse. on the marge of Lake Le- barge. There the frozen corpse was stuffed into the furnace of the derelict steamer Alice May and a great fire built. The poet personatng Sam McGee's part ner, describes the horrors of the occasion of How the heavens scowled and the huskies howled, and the winds began to blow" And how, though Is was icy cold. the hot sweat rolled" down his cheeks He tells how, though he was sick with dread, he bravely said; I'll just take a peep inside" He then opens the furnace door:
 And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm,
 in the heart of the furnace roar; And he wore smile you could see mile,
 and he said Please close the door. It's fine in here, but I greatly fear you'll
 let in the cold and storm
 Since left Plumtree, down in Tennessee.
 it's the first time I've been warm
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16

now sets at about Il p. m. and it comes up again two hours later. The twilight is bright and the sky is red at midnight.
 I find that the light has a strange effect upon me. The sleepness that comes about bedtime at home is absent and I am liable to work or talk until midnight or later without realizing the hour. When I wake during the night I am surprised to see that it looks just like day out of. doors. I do not seem to need as much sleep. The air is invig- orating and the light seems life-giving.
 The weather just now is about as warm as it is in the states. The grass is green, the trees are in full leaf, there are flowers everywhere and the people are going about in cotton cloth ing The women go out in the evening with bare arms and bare necks and the men play football, baseball and tennis Fin their shirt sleeves. There are many, E barefooted children and all nature is thriving under the hot 20-hour sun of the arctic.
 So much for the summer Now for the winter The old stagers say that the dreariness of the long night has been greatly exaggerated. During those months the most of the earth is snow clad, and the light of the sky, the stars and the moon added to the light from the snow makes it so that you can work almost all the time True, it is necessary to have lights in the schools, and in the newspaper offices the electric lights are turned off only between 11:16 in the morning and 2:15 in the afternoon. The morning newspaper men who have their sleep in the daytime do not see the sun oftener than once in week. that is on Sunday
 As to the winter climate many peo- pie here declare that they like the win ters better than the summers, and that they all-men, women and children thrive on the cold. MT. Buruss, the pilot of the Selkrk, on which I came here from White Horse, tells me he would kon than at his old home in Missouri. He says that all one needs is to prepare for the cold. He must have heavy woolen clothing and felt shoes or moccasins. When the thermometer falls to 50 or so degrees below zero he has to watch out for his face, and especially his nose. If this is not covered it will freeze within a few minutes At 20 degrees below zero the climate is delightful, The air Is still and dry and the people take short walks without overcoats. It is only when one goes riding that he needs fur coat at such times.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-16
By FRANK G. CARPENTER (Copyright, 1916. by Frank G. Car
 penter.)


 Dawson. Yukon Territory fSY-0WRITE of Dawson. the capital iWl of northwestern Canada, the bs4 metropolis of the Klondike |lSs&eEJ mining region, and for years the richest mining camp of |the world. It is just about two decades |since gold was discovered on Bo- |nanza creek. and now s1SO,Ooo.oOO worth of that precious metal has been Ehawed out of the frozen earth within Ia few miles of where I am writing. The first discovery was in 1896, and the |camp reached the height of its prosper l ty about five years later. Its gold out but that year was over S22,000,000 and l t has annually produced millions from | hat time until now. The product last rear: was about s5.Oo0.0OO and they vii, be getting out that much for some .years to come.
 | The first mining was done by individ- ials Stray miners. prospectors and Fortune hunters rushed in from all parts of the world Each had his own pick and shovel, his gold pan and his irebrand. He dug down into the icy gravel and thawed it away as he looked or the rich pockets of gold. Within even or eight years the cream of the lamp was skinned off and the small miners left. Then came great companies With millions of capital and the finest if mining machinery. They have been working the low-grade ground of The alleys and have been washing down he mountains to have the sprinkling f gold dust left in them. Great dredges Fhich cost hundreds of thousands of dol ars apiece now do the labor of hun reds of men. and rivers of water, car jed for miles in pipes over the country, re dashed against the hills to get out he gold. The age of machinery has eplaced the age of pure muscle and len and Dawson suffers in conse- uence.
 The Dawson of the past had at times lore than 30.000 citizens and in the re-, ion about were more than 60,00O in abitants. Today the city has less than poo and the outlying districts one 1ird as much more. With the, gradual xhaustion of the gold the population Is ecreasing and it is only a question of
 few years when the precious metal ill all be carried away and the chief eason for city here will have disap- pared. One of the great hopes of the eople lies in the discovery of rich iartz mines or the mother lode from hich all this loose gold has come.
 ith this view the hills have been