davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
EVENING POST ON ALABAMA

From the Montgomery Advertiser The New York Evening Post begins an editorial on Alabama thus
 Alphabetically, Alabama leads all the rest. Whether it is the list of states in schoolboy's geography or the deciding roll call for the nomination of a candidate for President, the first name is hers. But it is not easy to find Alabama leading anywhere else.''
 The Post is mistaken in it's conclusions Alabama has number of newspapers which lead the Post in circulation. The Advertiser, for instance, has about as much circulation as the Post, although it | is published in a city of not more than 45,o0o people. while the Post is published in city of 600O,000 people. There are five newspapers in Alabama each of which | carries a greater volume of advertising l than the Post
 1 Alabama filled no jails with siackers and traitors during the war; but the Posts home town did. However, the Post, i turning handsome for a moment, admits 1 (af if it were surpriseO that Alabama rose to the emergency of the war as if world conflicts were matters of every day." adding: "She furnished men, white and black, to her full quota. She sub scribed sSOOOO,0O0 to the fourth Liberty Loan-her state debt three times over And she claims credit of being the first state to coordinate all her work in the council of defense"
 The Post turns to Alabama, using as a text the report of the Russell Sage foun- da tion, which investigated "socaP' condi- that Alabama deriy es a revenue from it's convicts, and allows bonus to the pris- oners for overtime labor, and it notes with pain that gaming is sometimes all lowed in the prisons.
 l "Educationally,' says the Post, Ala bama is lone of the backward states"
 But the Post found out by reading the report that there is one hopeful sign in the state. The school hygiene depart ment of the T. c. I. company of Br- mingham, in which school children are made to drill with a toothbrush, presents lar excellent example, to the rest of the state, while our contemporary is cheered up bit to find also that there is a hos pital for negroes in Alabama. as well as a boys industrial school, whose board of directors is composed of women. "Alabamas success in places like these," concludes the smirking Post, "is promising for the future of all her social institutions"
 The Post ought to establish bureau in Alabama to provide it with additional in- formation on the interesting subject of l this queer province. The Post may not believe it, but, speaking as an honest Injun, we VOW that even cannibalism is hardly ever practiced in Alabama now. since diversification became so popular.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
resulting from a late supper and in-

resulting from a late supper and in-
 digestible food.
 The impudent Trotzky, strutting be-
 fore his nondescript army and hold
 ing frequent reviews, all of which re-
 dound to his glory; saying, Good morrow, my little soldiers" and being greeted in reply with, Good morrow, comrade," and then, perchance, hur- rying away to submit his plebeian nails to his special manicure" is a sight for the gods. Lenine, who was reported to have had a quarrel with his running mate sometime ago, leads an austere life and is regarded as be- ing mad by the bolsheviki themselves. He at least deserves some credit for not aping the foppish ways of Trotzky, minister of war and marine, whose elevation to power seems to have turned his head completely.
 While such men as Lenine and Trotzky thrive on the misfortunes of the Russian people, throttling the economic, administrative and religious life of Russia, calamity follows on the heels of calamity, leaving in their wake murder, starvation and ruin.
 An Associated Press dispatch from Warsaw says flour is selling for 800 rubles for 40 pounds in Moscow, and sugar for 50 rubles a pound, both be- ing practically unobtainable. There are grisly stories of starving horses falling in the streets and being stripped of their flesh before they are dead; of jewelry and precious stones bartered for morsel of food; of houses and costly furniture being burned for fuel, and, to cap the eli max, hair dressers and flower shops doing "fine business" Drunken ness and disease add to the horrors of la situation which is indescribable. What tongue or pen can depict the woes of Russia?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
RED TAPE WITH ARMY
From Leslie's.

From LeSlle'S.
 The United States employment service reports that, under the army plan of de- mobilization, soldiers who have jobs awaiting them are being held while those who are jobless. in many instances, are being released. Furthermore, the govern ment insists on sending a man with his unit to a post within $50 miles of where he was drafted, or enlisted, even if this takes him to San Francisco, when his home is m New York. The government insists on his taking free ride with the privilege of paying his way back to New York This seems to be the quintessence of red tape, and it is not surprising that it has caused nationwide clamor against it. The navy follows a better system. Men eligible for discharge are asked to state whether they wish to remain in the service or to go. and if the latter. they are promptly released
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger
 N ROF'ESSOR OMAN has put the
 lN world in his debt by his com
 pilation of the determining in
 cidents that led up to the great war
 of 1914. Those who know with what
 care and caution he has in the past dis cussed historical matters of a contro- versial character will accept the con clusions he has arrived at as abso- lutely authoritative. As president of the Royal Historical society and pre- lessor of history at Oxford, Professor Oman could not afford to set out a partisan account of the causes of the war that might easily be exposed any day by the power concerned going to the archives and proving an alibi. But there can be no question that he has the official documents to prove not only that the German war lords were determined on war in the spring of 1914, but that they seized upon the | murder of the Austrian archduke as i the great pretext.
 More than this the fact that Profess sor Oman has shown that the Kaiser, while seemingly playing the peace maker and mediator in his personal communications to the rulers of Eng ] land and Russia, had actually joined his war lords in arrahging to declare war is of the utmost significance at a l time when efforts are making to pie ture the ex-ruler of Germany as the in- nocent victim of sinister court con- spiracy. As this British historian has found out, nothing of the kind was ' further from the truth. The Kaiser was in the plot up to the hilt, and to deceive England and to play her to the last part of the game was to make Prince Lichnowsky, the German am l hassador at London, the scapegoat and /! let him talk peace and amiable nolh- | ings to the British secretary of foreign affairs while the great plot that has turned the world into a shambles was
 being matched. Nothing that lying in- trigue and dissmulation on the part of all in the conspiracy could do was left undone. For when examined by
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26

A certain fat comedian Is said to have signed a movie contract for three years at s1,o0O,ooo year. Still, that's only about s1 for each fall.
 # # # Even if MT. Willard is put to sleep by Mir. Dempsey. he will have a con siderable sum of money waiting for him when he wakes up.
 < # < The arrest of the Kaiser's youngest son may have convinced him that his return to the fatherland can be post poned a while longer.
 < # T When discussing armistice terms with the Germans General Foch is a great believer in the conservation of words.
 Trotzky is said to have an army of about 6oo.ooo men, but they call him "comrade,' and that's bad for disci- pline
  Londoners are learning how to live in hotels. Some of these days London may be almost as up-to-date as Goth- am.
 How can we expect to learn the truth about Russia when we don't 
 # # a Another victory for American slang. The French equivalent for You said it" is heard along the boulevards
 * < # If B. l.. ITS inspired compositor' should spell Borahs name, 'Borer," he wouldn't be far wrong
 x # * That rough voyage across the Atlan- tic by no means cooled the Presidents ardor for battle Mir Taft is the kind of American citizen who puts the nations honor above politics.
 taste of Boston beans nut Presi- dent Wilson in fine fettle to tackle Congress.
 < < # Birmingham continues to boast of the largest private still" in cau. tivity-
 * # * The old reliable firing squad is st!l doing business in Mexico.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
LUKE M,LuKE SAYS

A lot of drys in Congress who held up necessary war legislation until they forced prohibition through are now yelping that the administration is fail ure because it ended the war too soon and enabled lot of overseas fighters to return to this country before prohibit tion went into effect.
 Right here and now we want to protest against the proposition to make a corn fed girl pay two fares on a street car, because she occupies as much sitting space as two thin girls.
 You couldn't get man into grave yard after midnight. But man isn't a bit afraid of ghost when it walks on pay day.
 Another thing we like about a man
 is that when company calls at the house he doesn't devote all of his converse ton to apclogizing for the looks of the place. His wife attends to that After going over all of the advance fashion dope we are prepared to an nounce that the 1919 spring styles for women will look worse than last spring s styles and will cost just as much. And we never knew an absent minded man who was so much that way that he would forget his own troubles. Once a girl makes up her mind that Sl1c Has tO nave yOu, etit ilOhc yOu diS- courage her the more you encourage her. Married life would be much happier it q man would only try to please his own wife the way he tries to please some other mans wife.
 Every woman loves flattery. In fact, the only person who likes flattery more than a woman is a man.
 A married man seldom loses any sleep over the fact that his wife is disap- pointed because che does not get what she wants. becaufe he knows that she
 would be disappointed if she did get it. What has become of the d-fashioned woman who used to use the bed post as a lever to make her corset give her | torso shape like an hour glass? i When girl wants to chase a map
 she does it by keeping just step oI
 two ahead of him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
THE RISER SURVIVED

From the Argonaut.
 After grand review of the German troops at Potsdam the Kaiser called out to the officer commanding the Prus- sian Guard, in voice loud enough to be heard by all the distinguished guests who were grouped in front of the pal ace:
 'Pck me out 100 men from the Prus- sian Guard
 Then, taking the arm of King Ed ward VII, who was there, he said. Come with me-" He escorted King Edward very deliberately round the 100 men and then said. banteringly: Well, do you think you could find 100 men in England to beat them?'
 'I don't know so much about that" promptly replied the late King, "but could easily find 50 who would try"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
k * * Government Is Defied In Liberty Bond Trading

THE Chicago Herald and Examiner
 0 is waging war on loan sharks, pawnbrokers and numerous other un- patriotic business firms that are en- riching themselves at the expense of the poor and needy by buying Liberty Bonds below their market value.
 Reporters were sent out ostensibly to sell Liberty Bonds or pawn them. The reporters were of course unknown to the tricky bond dealers and their verbatim accounts of their conversa- tions with these people and the de- scription of their experiences reveal the sordid depths of human nature. One newspaper man was disguised as a discharged soldier and the treatment he received was enough to make any patriotic citizens blood boil. There is a constant stream of people going into these places, says the Herald and Examiner, most of them poor and shabby in appearance. Some of the dealers are so bold in their operations that they paste in their windows the government posters warning holders of Liberty Bonds against swindlers with their own announcement, "Lib- erty Bonds Bought Here"
 The Herald and Examiner not only publishes the names and addresses of men who are buying Liberty Bonds be- low the market quotations, or lend ing money on them at exorbitant terms, but prints picture of for eign steamship office where a man with Teutonic name is doing flour ishing business, even paying commits sions to persons who bring in pros- pective victims.
 Yet no amount of publicity will pro- tect poor and ignorant people from such practices. The government has repeatedly warned the public against dealing with interruptions bond brok- CTS, but these warnings seem to have fallen on deaf ears. If a person hold ing a Liberty Bond is compelled to part with it, any reputable bank or broker will tell him the market price Liberty Bond quotations are also pub liz cd on the financial pages of news papers.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
Hears From Elmer c. Ford

q heard recently from Elmer '. Ford, one of our Howard college boys, who went to France with the " in September, 1917,' said Dr. James C. Dawson, the president of the institu- tion, "and was glad to know that he had greatly enjoyed his experience abroad. He wrote that he expected to be back in th.s country sometim" sooE The college men who went overseas with the Y M. .. X have made goo l and shown the worth of trained men of education to mer; emergencies"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
Good Theatre Town

Birmingham certainly is a theatre town,'' said Frank Hammond, manager Of the Majestic theatre, "and the peo- pie now seem to have lots of money. I can remember when we always sold out the gallery and balcony first, and it was a rare occasion that all boxes were sold, but now the box seats and those on the first floor are the first bought. Since we reopened the Majestic we have been playing to full houses and on many occasions have been forced to display the sign standing room only This condition is not only true in the theatre game, but applies to businesses of all kinds
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
THE STRENGTH OF THE HILLS

THE STRENGTH OF THE HILLS odell Shepard, in his book, "A Lonely
 Flute"
 Let me sleep among the shadows of the
 mountains when die,
 In the murmur of the pines and sliding
 streams,
 Where the long day loiters by Like a cloud across the sky
 And the moon-drenched night is
 e. musical with dreams. Lay me down within the canyon of the
 mountains, far away,
 In valley filled with dim and rosy
 light,
 Where the flashing rivers play Out across the golden day And noise of many waters brims the
 night, Let me die where glinting rivers ram
 ble down the slanted glade, Under bending alders, garrulous and cool,
 Where they gather in the shade To the dazzling, sheer cascade, Where they plunge and sleep within
 the pebbled pool. All the wisdom, all the beauty. have lived for unaware N"A'S NPoh iio ny tLS lOte Ol 4lieAA1 rills; have seen God walking there In the solemn, soundless lair When the morning wakened wonder in the hills. l am what the mountains made me. of thety green and gold and gray, Of the dawnlight and the moonlight and the foam Mighty mother far away. Ye who washed my soul in spray, am coming, Mother Mountains. com ing home. When draewS my dreams about me, when I leave the darlxling plain Where my soul forgets to soar and learns to plod shall go back home again To the kingdoms of the rain, To the blue purlieus of heaven, nearer God. Where the rose of dawn blooms earlier across the miles of mist, Between the tides of sundown and moonrise, shall keep lovers tryst With the gold and amethyst
 With the stars for my companions In
 the skies
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
Cotton Acreage and
 Other Vital Questions

TIT is hoped that the community N meetings called by Governor Kilby for Saturday, March 8, for the purpose of, discussing the cotton situ- ation and planning for reduced cotton acreage will be we'll attended.
 But other vital questions in relation to agriculture, such as crop diversi- fication and marketing methods, will also be considered Farmers, mer- chants and bankers are expected to CO., operate in the present movement, and with the desired unity of action large results are sure to follow.
 Alabama leads all the cotton states in diversification. Within the last three or four years great progress | has been made in this direction, but still greater achievement will be re- corded this year if all interests put forth a united effort.
 The community meetings will be ad- dressed by agricultural specialists, in cluding demonstration agents, and farmers in general will receive a fresh inspiration along the line of their diversification activities. As to the cotton acreage throughout the "belt," 50 per cent reduction is proposed. Three years ago Alabama began to reduce and it may be that a small reduction in this state as com pared with the 1918 acreage will be
 satisfactory to the short-crop advo-
 cates.
 According to indications this years
 total crop will be short enough te satisfy the most far-seeing of the well
 poised agricultural economists.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
THE LONG AGO.

I rem ember, I remember
 Those happy days of yore, When dollar went some distance
 Iii any sort of store. It hardly buys a dozen eggs,
 A pound of butter now, And that's why there are creases in
 The married mortars brow remember, I remember
 A quarter used to buy A dinner at a restaurant, ts.,
 Including prunes or pie. M But that was very long ago
 When life held greater joy. Thank heaven. I don't eat as much
 AS when I was a boy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
x E < Inglorious Spectacle Of Russia In Ruins

IF the chaotic conditions in Russia S were not such a grim tragedy, costing the lives of millions and en- dangering the future peace of the world, the situation might be regard ed as some kind of giant hoax, too incredible to be believed by people in their right minds, or a fantastic dream
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
Little Trading in Municipal Bonds

good demand but there is little trading in municipal bonds" said Hugo Marx of Otto Marx & Co.,, investment bankers
 There is more or less trading in gov ernment bonds and Jefferson county seems to want municipal bonds bearing a low rate of interest. The securities market generally is very satisfactory and money seems to be plentiful for invest ment where the bonds or other securities are at all attractive.''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
A FINISHED ORATOR.

What's become of the old-fashionet politician who used to get votes b. opening a keg of nails'?' You'll find him leading the prohib tion battlers now and he can make speech on the curse of drink that woul' convert the most hardened sinner, al though he doesn't believe a word of i himself"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
Organize for An
 Intensive Drive

THE four Liberty Loan campaigns
 4 resulted in over-the-top achieve ments, and the fifth Loan, to be of fered in April, should be equally suc- cessful.
 The fact that this country was at
 war when the people were asked to subscribe to the four big Loans made lit easy to arouse the patriotic senti- ment of the public, but now that the
 war has been won every patriotic American should respond eagerly to a Victory Loan.
 The forthcoming campaign must be thoroughly organized, just as the former campaigns were, and the ap- peal to patriotism must be even more earnest. The "Vic" billions should be subscribed within a weeks time. But HI OEQeT LO Hldhc SuTC Ol ICdCilltlS CAS goal, the drive must be more intensive than ever. There will be no excuse whatever for apathy.
 The government has imperative need of the money. Every dollar will count and every good citizen will be expected to practice self-denial if necessary in order to do his bit. Organization and enthusiastic team work will accomplish the end in view. lE E F $.
 The serbians now have enough to eat, but lack clothes. It may not be possible to launch a clothing drive until we get the Victory loan out of the way.
 The late Dr. Mary Walker probably lpressed her own trousers At least therc is mo record at hand of her ever having belonged to pressing club.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
MOVIE READING MATTER

From the Kansas City Star.
 With almost half of our feature movie films given over to explanatory intro- auctions, facetious retorts. telegrams and personal letters. it is becoming mighty hard for an illiterate man to be much of a movie fan.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26

BEGINNING THE DAY-My En- ther, help me today to remember that when I walk in Thy presence I keep mystical company with all the good and great of all times and all lands. For they have been and are Thy companions. Make me worthy, then, of the company of these princely souls. In Christ's name. Amen--H. M. F..
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
Member of the Associated Press

The Age-Hera1d is the only morning and Sunday newspaper in Birmingham carrying the Associated Press dls- patches.
 The Associated Press is exclusiveiy entitled to the use for publication oi all news dispatches credited to II or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news puphsheo herein.
 All rights of republication Of speciai dispatches herein are also reserved.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
From the N. Y. World.
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES
ANCIENT CRAFT.

That's a fine looking battleship.' Tt was built 10 years ago.
 "Ah, Comparatively modern" T should say not! Naval officer gall it a prehistoric tub.''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
Enjoyed Hot Springs Trip

T enjoyed my trip out to Hot Springs said Capt Jack Cranford, "and I found the hotels crowded. I mo- tice that the New York hotels seem to be overrrf. and that even here in Birmingham they are turning people away. I am reminded that this is q the go We'll if the public quit travel ing the railroads and the hotels would be in a mighty bad fix. I have always liked to get about and see things and most folks are in the same boat. and son the trains are crowded"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
Washington bureau. POT Hibbs build

Washington bureau, zVt dloos ooiAu ing.
 European bureau. 6 Henrietta street. Covent Garden, London
 Eastern business office, World puilo- ing, New York cIty; western business offlce Tribune building, Chicago. The $. c. Beckwlth special Agency, agents Tor foreign advertising
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
Long Time Without Vacation.

sT haven't had a vacation for eight years" said Judge Abernethy, land am beginning to, feel the need of one mighty bad. I have set on the bench so long that I feel as if I am about ready to sprout Many people think it's cinch just to sit and hear cases. but it gets mighty wearisome to the flesh just to go through the sitting part without having to listen to the testimony and the speeches of the law yers. Nine cases out of ten are unin- teresting and the same old grind gets on ones nerves"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-26
BLIssFUL IGNORANCE.
KAISER AS THE ARCH-PLOTTER

dispassionate Historian all the trumped-up charges that France orl Russia has provoked Germany into al war of defense fall to the ground
 The war of 1914 from first to last was Germany's war; it was conceived' in Germany, had been planned for years and opportunity after opportun- : ity had been sought to spring the trap Everything was ready early in 1914. and the particular incidents that final ly gave the Potsdam war lords their chance, their day" in one sense of the word, are unimportant. The i'm portant thing is the fact that all the documents put together form mosaic that finally pictures beyond contro- versy the guilt of the defunct imperial German government and the imperial plotters who. believed in their divine right to rule and to ruin other civiii-
 zations than their own. That they , were involved in the debacle. all unex- pectedly to them, is only part of the story.