davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
Commissioners Barber in Peril

The recent activities of motor truck thieves who earned away from the city jail orehouse 46 pound sacks of four three pounds of meat have caused appehensons to be felt for the safety of Commissioner Are Barber If these criminals embodened by their should lay violent hands the of Brmnghams police commissioner and transport him to the hinerland of Mississippi the mephtc wamps of Louisiana, the loss to the city would be irreparabe.
 Some months at the very time Mr. Barber fulmnat ing in the city hall and congesng traffic by making street speeches large steel bridge spirited away ana no the wiser Such having been perpetrated al most under the of police commissioner despite the fact that the useful organ being poked assiduous into affairs including those of his fellow commissioners and the general public, greater crimes may follow.
 Suppose Birmngham's commissioner paramount kid naped in mid career7 If the deed committed for and there opportunity to his person. the city would suffer complete paralysis The wheels gov ernment with to oil them, would to complete standt The machinery at the city ha into which Mr. Bar Der has many times thrown monkey wrench would remind of the plight in which those jealous Germans left nterned German ships when President Wilson broke off diplomatic ations.
 There would be suspension of civic industrial and religious
 life With to safeguard their morals if not their lives and property the needless population would forthwith go the demnon bowwows. The movie peril would have by the hroat the honorable city commissioners bere of their monitor and guide would not know which way turn Lynx eyed reporters would return from the city hall without line of "copy with which to instruct and entertain the
 Since has been demonstrated that Birmingham thieves will steal WnaI Will prevent them laying violent hands the police commissioner? Apparently nothing Some morning Birmingham may be stunned by the intelligence that
 Mr. Barber gone, knows whher and leaving no clues behind.
 Birmingham has lately been unfortunate The city has lost
 first thing and then another Should Mr. Barber be whisked dark night motor all these other caamtes would be ecpsed Seven plants could compensate for such loss The populace would be sorely afflicted but imagine the consernaon that would caused among his e low commissioners Who would Mr. Truss find to do battle Wbo0 rJ Jox- and dspach Where would the other distinguished gentlemen of the board look for encouragement admonition?
 Let hope that Mr. Barber will not be kidnapped The pros rect of losing him is too painful to be lightly considered
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
THE AIDE OF MYTH

restaurant. Your waiter, if not obviously too young, will steer you around to news paper talk then suddenly and impatiently he will begin: "The newspaper boys ain't what they used to be. No. Dooley Dunne and Ade and them. Ade used to
 eat here all the time was his favor ite waiter Funny? Funniest man in the world. I used to give him lots of tips and help him with his funny stuff" Chicagoans. having seen Ade pass down Michigan avenue, grim-faced, vigorous and having appropriatively nudged neigh
 bors, cherish for years the mere mem ory of having seen him. In the clubs or up among the newspaper offices when the older men congregate and the younger once listen, the myth loom starts really whirring on the pattern of Ade's anec- dotes The town delights in quoting him, and this in his lifetime. which is passing strange.
 And the most humorous thing about it all is the fact that if Ade had been shaved once by every barber who claims to have shaved him constantly, or have eaten one meal with every waiter who claims to have fed him habitually, he
 would have had no time to have made his reputation as a humorist.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
From the Chicago Herald.

From the Chicago Herald.
 ~ FORGE ADE and Mrs. O'Leary' 8 (( 7 COW are Chicago's chief tradi- ttons and the greater of these is Ade. It is strange thing for so young a city to Homerize one of it's ex-citizens during his lifetime Yet about him there is already rising well of myth.
 There are in the loop innumerable wait CTS and barbers who solemnly boast that in the good old days they exclusively at- tended to the dietetic and tonsorial wants of George Ade. In a certain restaurant hangs a sign. Our pumpkin pies made from pumpkins raised on George Ade's farm" the proprietor seeking thereby to spice his dish with something of the flavor of our Indiana neighbours wit.
 Sink in the chair of the oldest barber in the ship and start him fondling old times. Sooner or later he will volunteer, T used to shave George Ade when he was work ing here In town. Yes, sir,'' he will pro- nounce in a tone too familiar for rever- ence and too reverent for familiarity, The used to come in here always-and funny ? Him and I used to pull some awful funny stuff. Manys the time I've laughed so hard I've nicked his chin
 Or go for dinner to any long-estaolished
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
THE SHORT STORY

niche in written literature before the
 modern centuries is Interestingly ex-
 plained. The "scholars' did not trouble
 themselves in reproducing the tales and
 ballads because nearly everybody knew
 them In other words, they were com
 mon. They were not considered worth the
 pains of writing and because everybody
 told them by word-of-mouth many con sidered them Vulgar"
 So it was that Boccaccio was for long time apparently ashamed of his now fa- nous "Decameron' and even neglected
 to show it to his best friend until 1s years after it was written. So common was the story in early centuries that in many cases the work of the short story mas ters was preserved only by a happy ac- cident. according to Mr. Lawrence. It is to the tremendous growth of the reading public that the fame of the short story is due today, Mir Lawrence holds. "The great public which was formerly satisfied to have its stories told to it has become literate and now reads for itself," this critic declares.
 <AS seuuehS VI thc snort story, MT. Lawrence is strikingly unique. He is not professionally a critic although & writer of good deal of prominence Pro- fessiOnally he is an unromantic student or finance, occupying the position of as- sstant treasurer of the B. F. Goodrich company of Akron. In this position he seems to follow the new tradition of big business-the demand that a man shall do many things well. He thus sets him.
 self to cope with equal dexterity with either literary or financial experts
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
Much Patriotic Interest

You have no idea how much general and patriotic interest is being taken in the news at the present time, old and young, black and white" said J. R. Stanley. Everybody is full of patriotic fervor, but one hears some funny con versations if he will stop and listen to little groups on the streets I overheard two negroes strenuously arguing how and when Uncle Sams army was to be landed on German soil, and they talked as if the starsA and stripes would soon be waving over Berlin
 Dem Alleys is right on de brink of winnin' noE and all dat's needed is fer Uncle Samfo butt in. an the hole thing will be over said one of them
 Hit sho'ly will be- assented the other
 The high cost of living is another ab- sorbing topic, and there are no better informed citizens than the little newsies on the street.
 I heard one approach another the oth- CT morning and say, Come on, skinny, and let's eat And as they started off, one remarked, 1ookahere, this high cost of living is getting somethin' fierce
 Yep said the other, but ain't you glad you don't live in New York? This mornings Age-Herald said they was starving to death up there.
 ''The last words I heard were, Lil' ole Birmingham is good enough for me-, and by this time their sharp teeth were buried in hotdog."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03

7THE modern" short story is not modern at all. It isn't new, for it has existed since the time of
 the cave man. And it isn't essentially different from the infinite variety of stories that have come down through the centuries.
 This theory, which revolutionizes the
 dictum of Edgar Allan Poe and practi- cally all short story critics since Poe's time, is interestingly set forth in the February North American Review by James Cooper Lawrence.
 In refusing to believe that there is such a thing as nineteenth century or
 twentieth century short story, MT. Law renee crosses swords with Brander Mat thews and a host of the latters SUD- porters. Matthews has maintained wig orously that the modern short story was
 "invented by Poe and that this type of story. the particular child of the nine- teenth century, is distinguished from it's predecessors by it's effort to produce upon
 the reader single effect" There is no basis" says MT. Lawrence
 flor the contention that the single -ef- feet story has not been used by writers and story tellers in all periods in the history of the world"
 A short story is simply story that is short-short enough to be perused at one sitting. In substance, this is the Law renee theory. Any other limitations in the way of definition are simply confus- ing, this writers ayers.
 In setting his face against the almost unanimous verdict of other critics, and in declaring that a short story essentially as it exists today is older than the pyra-
 mids MT. Lawrence proceeds to present a formidable array of evidence. After going way back to the ancient ballad and carrying the short story through a maze of historical data, this revolutionary critic concludes that the only difference between the highly em- bellished tale of today and the simple folk lore which has come down through the ages, is verbal-the simple matter | of the use of words. Written language
 he says. having more words and hence | more shades of meaning, is able to better clothe its subject with greater precision and exactness.
 Why the story did not attain strong
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03

From the Kansas City Star.
 6NaE motion pictures have added a
 lot of new phrases to our every
 = day language; slang, these are called, because they have not got into the dictionaries yet, and have not been adopted into the best society, But a preacher in one of the largest churches in this city spoke in his sermon last Sunday of a Closeup" of God. This was motion picture slang pure and sim ple When the running picture Is sud- denly interrupted by an enlarged picture of one of the actors that is closeup.
 Another word in everyday use is reg ister." The motion picture man tells the actor to register sorrow, or surprise, or some other emotion And so we say of a man that he registered anger" or registered fear"
 "Cut in," flash" "cut back "a still, "a fade away" are other phrases that seem to have come to stay. We say of a person who is "cutting up" that he is
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
WORDS FROM THE MOVIES

doing a Charlie stunt" which means he is acting like Charlie Chaplin.
 Our language is always in the making. New words are constantly being added to it, and other words are undergoing change of meaning. Take the word hack" for example It came from the old English word hackney" meaning a horse let out for hire. Such a horse htched to a coach was called "a hack ney horse" Gradually the coach for hire itself took on the name hackney coach" Then coach was dropped and it became hackney" and this, in America, was shortened to hack. The driver of hack was a hackman.
 A hackney horse was always woefully overworked, and any man who was over worked, especially a literary drudge who worked hard and got little for it, was spoken of as hackney or hack" and from that comes our "hackneyed" as applied to word or phrase in such com mon use that it is overworked.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
HAWAIIAN MUsICs NOT MUCH:

From Everybody's.
 The trouble all began way back in 177S when Capt. James Cook of the Eng
 fish admiralty discovered Hawaii. But it remained for our American mission aries of 1920 to bring matters to a climax and pave the way for the estimable Capt.
 Herni Berger, for 43 years leader of the
 Royal Hawaiian band. The last named worthy, it seems, put the finishing touches upon the musical art of the sometime Sandwich Islands And all these influences, working together, have man. aged to evolve an institution quite comi- cal in it's false retensions-Hawaiian
 number of Everybody's Magazine, dis
 cusses this situation with insight and a lot of dry humor. It will be a sad jolt, no doubt, to a great many people to
 know that so large an element of foreign influence enters into the composition of this now widely popular music It will be , great blow to the vast army of young | folks who tinkle the ukuele and dream
 dreams of moonlight on Waikiki beach. 1 It is bound to be upsetting in the ex- treme to learn that Tit required true Deutscher to write the Hawaiian na- tional hymn Yet it is perhaps as well
 that we see things in their true light. | So, though sadly. we must bow to Mir. Jordan's discoveries in this realm of
 music. ''Kalakaua, the last of the kings 1 of Hawaii" he assures us did the words, the German bandmaster did the music, and they called it the now fla 'mous Hawaii Ponoiv ? Pure, native mu-
 sic? Not much!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
HOTEL LOBBIEs
Ready for Opening


 1here's lot of difference between railroading and playing baseball" said Cecil Coombs. outfelder of the Birning- nam club. yesterday Since the close of the' baseball season last September. I nave been working for railroad as a brakeman, and between baseball and railroading I prefer the former.
 am anxious for the season to begin. My muscles are hard as iron from the strenuous work during the winter and my eyes are in better trim than last year. I am going to be extremely careful this season and try not to be laid up two or more months of the season with some injury.
 Birmingham is going to have good team this season. Manager Molesworth is the best manager in the league and in addition he has gathered a good bunch of players. However, within a few days the railroad will lose the services of a good brakeman and then I will go back to the diamond"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03

It is predicted that "bone-dry" prohi- bition will cause great many kitchen distllleries to spring up. However, the United States revenue officers will be in a state of preparedness
 * * *
 Young women of Oakland Cal, have donned overalls and started to cultivate a looo-acre tract. They'll keep it up long enough to get their pictures in the pa- pers, anyhow.
 The submarine is not a comforta ble craft in which to travel It seems con- structed to make everybody as uncom- fortable as possible, including its own crew.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
LUKE M'LUKE SAYS

You can't convince man that he has faults by saying bad things about him. You will merely convince him that you are a liar.
 It is all right to meet your wife with smile on your lips providing you have
 wiped your lips and chewed a few cloves. Some people imagine that charity means attending to other peoples business with out charge.
 When man goes shopping with his wife he is either afraid of her or very much in love with her. Mighty few smart men are clever enough to take proper care of themselves. Nature makes some queer mistakes. She often gives little man a big ba ass voice and big man little squeaky voice.
 Don't get too friendly with the man who | is bragging that this is two -billion-dol lar couHtry. He may touch you for a dime.
 It often happens that girl marries a man merely because she is afraid some other girl will get him. Don't be selfish. People try to forget folks who only remember themselves. Some men would get along better if they would apply procrastination to worry instead of work. Why is it that when man is rescued from drowning he is always rescued just as he is going down for the third time. The moral of some men depend more on the police than on anything else. When a woman is sick she tries te primp up and look her best. But wher ] a man is sick he is afraid that he won't | look as bad as he feels. Wives are persons who are always
 wanting something they don't want. 1 If vegetables keep on increasing 1T
 value the Easter bonnets may be trimmed with potatoes and onions
 1 The old-fashioned city boy who use6 | to have to split an armload of kindline
 every afternoon after school now has a
 son who gets mad if he is asked to gt down town once a month and pay tht
 gas bill
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
Living We'll On
 a ScamG Imc0nne
.1 NOTWITHSTANDING

INT NOTWITHSTANDING the high
 N cost of living and the wasteful
 fndency on the part of the average American family some one comes Iforward now and them with an item ized budget showing how we'll per sons can be fed and clothed on a scant income.
 In small town where every dwell- ing has it's vegetable garden and it's poultry yard little money can be made to go long way; but without these accessories, in big city like New York, high prices and the scarcity of food apparently cut no figure with the economical housewife. A lady signing herself "An Old-Time z 4 lerican" contributes an interesting < v instructive article to New York
 lily, in which she tells how her fam A{ of four. including husband and two boAs, lives on $7 week after paying ront for apartments. She says that nll of them work for wages and that the nature of their employment re- Quires them to make good appear ance, that is to say, dress well.
 What is spent for food every week averages less than $4. Here is one voek's list: Four packages of cereal, lo cents; seven cans of evaporated eFSam, 77 cents; one pound of oleo- .afkarine, 25 cents; three pounds of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
RUssIA's VACATION PLACE

From Arthur Ruth. in Golfers Weekly.
 The Caucasus, far from being the for gotten corner we often fancy it at home, is Russia's favorite vacation place, where those who can afford it go to climb mountains, take the waters and gener- ally do the things for which Americans go to Colorado or southern California. With western Europe shut off by war, the Caucasus resorts were crowded now, and it was not easy even to get a place on the Volga boats.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
HARoUN AL RAsCHID

By Longfellow.
 One day Haroun al Rascn.d read A book wherein the poet said: Where are the kings. and where the Of those who once the world possessed? They're gone with all their pomp and
 show;
 They're gone the way that thou shalt 20. 70 thou who choosest for thy share The world, and what the world calls fair, Take all that it can give or lend. But know that death is at the end.'' Haroun al Raschid bowed his head: Tears fell upon the page he read.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03

peanut butter, 36 cents; two pounds of potatoes, Is cents; two pounds of parsnips, IA cents; one can of toma- toes, 12 cents; one pound of broken spaghetti, 6 cents; three loaves of bread a day, $1.05; total for the week, S3.51. A little meat is served occa- sionally, and by way of variety rice pudding or banana fritters. The fam fly goes to the theatre once month; but after eating and spending a few cents on incidentals it is marvel how they manage to dress Gin style."
 This domestic economist stresses the nutritive value and toothsomeness of peanut butter and thinks it strange that in all the articles on the high cost of living published from day to day no mention is made of it.
 "Old- Time American" writes in cheerful vein, and one reason is she has managed to keep the family out of debt. If there were more like her thrift would be the general rule and savings banks would be forced to en- large their vaults.
 SS
 However, the most ingenious theorist will not be able to link the large number of cotton pajamas taken on board the Frederik VIII by German diplomats with German machinations in Mexico.
 * *
 Senator Tillman says: Japan hates Germany worse than the devil hates holy water However, likes and dislikes don't figure to any extent in international poli- ties
 It is all very well for the newspapers munitions makers are more necessary in these trying times than verse makers.
 X *
 There are some so-called statesmen in this country who believe every charge made against Germany is fabrication of Great Britain.
 So far as the United States and Ger many are concerned, the British newspa- pers have no difficulty in discovering a casus bell.
 If the price goes much higher, the Spanish onion will soon be as hard to ap- proach as the proudest Spanish don.
 * < <;
 There is no reason why movie yam pire' shouldn't lead quiet home life when not acting before the camera. Mr Bryan says he is on the trail of the jingoes. A blind man can easily locate jngo by the noise he makes.
 
 Mrs. Funston will receive a pension of s1OO a month That's one pension Uncle Sam won't mind paying.
 * *
 Take it from Senator Stone. His knees don't knock together when he calls on President Wilson.
 The Czar has about decided that he won't sacrifice his last moujik in getting to Berlin.
 Horace might have enjoyed rural life more if he had been the proud owner of "flivver."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
Williarn Dean Howells
Is Eighty Years Old

80 GZA$ A4SV @ SSSS
 MM ARCH was the eightieth birth GVH day of William Dean Howells, Americas foremost man of letters. MT. Howells was born at Martins Ferry, O. He grew up in Hamilton, where he led the life of a typical, healthy minded American boy, which he describes felicitously in his book, "A Boys Town" The future novelist began his career as compositor, edi- tor and correspondent of several Ohio newspapers.
 In 1861 MT. Howells was appointed United States consul at Venice, where he acquired his profound knowledge of Italian literature. He held this post until 1865. When he returned to the United States he became an editorial writer and later assistant editor of the New York Nation From 1872 to 1881 MT. Howells edited the Atlantic Monthly. He was also at one time @editor of the Cosmopolitan. From 1886 to 1891 he was the editor of The Editors Study in Harper's Magazine. Since that time he has been editor of the Editors Easy Chair, one of the most delightful departments of this publication.
 Mir. Howells has not only labored assiduously as an editor, found time to make many notable acquaintances and to travel much and to write about his travels in most engaging style, but his output of books has been as- tonishing. A set of his complete works to date would make in itself private library of fair size, numbering more than seventy volumes of poems, novels, farces and miscellaneous works.
 MT. Howells' faculty of observa- ton, his literary ability and the knowledge of places and men he has acquired during long and busy life time have given him wealth of ma terial. He has used his talents we'll and by industrious application has earned the honorable place he holds in the affections of his countrymen.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
CLASSICAL MRS. JUDE

From the Atchison Globe
 Mrs. Jude Johnson, who recently de- cided to become classical, entered the city library today and asked for a copy of "Gray's Energy"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
SLIGHTLY SARCASTIC.

SLIGHTLY SARCASTIC. T met Glithers just now He had a hoe, rake and large package of gar- den seed"
 Going to plant something, eh?' "oh. no. Of course not. I think he got those things together for the purpose of attending directors meeting at his bank"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-03
SOME CLIMB
From the Los Angeles Times.

From the Los Angeles Times. It is natural law in California, espe- cially in the southern part of the state, that folks grow young instead of old Every time a rose fades in this sweet land its color finds it's way into the
 ] cheeks of some visitor from the east who has come here to seek the health which
 only cline like this can give