davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
LITERARY DIPLOMATS


 From the New York Evening Sun. G1T1HE naming of Robert Underwood
 Johnson as ambassador to Italy
 is in line with as nearly fixed an American tradition as can be found in our unsystematic foreign service. It isn't necessary to go over the list of American men of letters who have been appointed to various Old World posts on the strength of their records as writers or editors. The striking fact is the iensth of that list and tsc way the tradition still operate in periods when so many other traditions have gone slimmering.
 However material some of it's results may be, diplomacy is a commerce In invisible commodities. The writer, par ticularly of the imaginative type. is at home in that field, even though he know little of the technical details. Mega lively he is usually free from those business and political relationships and prejudices that might prove an embar- rassment. His intellectual attitude, somewhat removed from the hurly- burly requires little change 70 acquire the diplomats detachment from a med
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
GENIUsEs WHO LIVED LONG

From Tit-Bits London,
 Victor Hugo, the great French poet and dramatist, died when S3 years old, being equal in longevity to his German contemporary, Goethe. who died after presenting the world with that famous dramatic poem, Faust
 Others who outlived the allotted span were Francesca Petrarch. the famous Italian poet. whose odes and sonets TO Laura" are of marvellous beauty and fervor, who was II years old at death; Samuel Richardson. whose first novel, Pamela" ran into four editions Ill the first year, died at 72, at which age. also died Allan Ramsay, the Scot tish pastoral poet. whose Gentle Shep- terd' made him famous, and that pro- found thinker and essayist Of sthe seventeenth century. John Locke. Dugald Stewart, the Scottish philo- sophicaI writer, and the French tragic dramatist, Pierre Corneille, died at '75 and IS. respectively. These are the lit-
 erary exceptions to the general rule | that's longevity and genius do not go hand in hand.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
LIKE M,LuKE SAYS

Any married man can tell you that while a womans tongue might wear out, there is no danger of it rusting out.
 Some men have been stung so often that the minute you act friendly with them they wonder how much you are going to touch them for
 Why is it that a man hates to act good -natured with his own wife the way he acts good natured with some other mans wife?
 We expect that along about the first of June. when the weather gets hot, the women will geN their furs out of the camphor and begin to wear them.
 We doubt that flour will ever get sol dear that woman will be able to resist the temptation to waste pound of it on her face when she is dress ing.
 Even when woman is wearing a knee high skirt she just naturally has to hoist her skirt little when she comes to muddy street crossing.
 Better enjoy the box of chocolates he brings you every night when he is courting you. young woman. You'll be lucky if you get a pack of chewing gum once month after you marry him.
 And any married woman can tell you that wives are entitled to a lot more sympathy than widows.
 confirmed rheumatic can't under stand why anybody bothers about read ing the weather forecasts.
 A man does not have to take many lessons to learn how to loaf in first class style.
 If a woman is trying on new pair of shoes and they fit her she won buy them because she knows that they are too big.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17

dlesome interest in things that dc n0t concern him or the nation he represents-
 But there is a deeper reason than this. The effective envoy, while he must not meddle with machinery, must be able to make the broadest appeal in behalf of his own people to those of she other nation. Both the source and he me- dium of such an appeal are found in lit ! erature at it's best It is at once Ia ! tiona1 and universal. as ale all the arts
 These considerations may by no means be urged against the establishment in America of trained foreign service We are desperately inxneed of such al system and the need will increase rap- idly.s Nothing will take the place of specific experience in and study of in- ternational conditions. All that can bel said is that since the United States has obstinately refused to do it's duty in this matter, it is fortunate that litara - ture has aided appreeiably in supplying the best material that could be had But if the main dependence were placed on a well organized service, the nation would still be free to use men whose attachments in other fields comm nded world wide respect
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17

Old-fashioned beer will be put on the market-but the purchaser must have a physicians prescription to get it. Tn other words, it will be caviar to the general"
 In neighborhoods where the atmos- phere is heavily impregnated with the fumes of gasoline there are never theless families who can't pay their
 grocery bills.
 Vice President Marshall expresses a
 partiality for the old-fashioned de-
 mocracy. In politics 1t is possible to
 look backward and still keep the for
 ward view. Can/itA be possible that Joe Tumulty
 has been running this country for months, and nobody in particular was much the wiser? About 200 American soldiers are said to have married German girls. It re- mains to be seen whether or not they showed poor judgment. # # * The Martians made a mistake if they thought presidential year an oppor- ] tune time to clutter up interplanetary space with messages. x s # | It is not until candidate goes be- fore the people for election to office l that everybody has. chance to find out what are his faults and his virtues. | x * * | A Georgian has succeeded in raising | green cotton. Still, this doesn't neces- | sarily mean that Ireland is soon to be
 free.
 l There's a tremendous amount of buzz ling in the cloakrooms at Washington but as yet the Washington monument
 has not been shaken to it's base. ! x < < Col House says both gentlemen have been his friends. But why did the col onel use the past tense: * x * I It's passing strange. Nobody cried Eaioud that the valentine makers were profiteering.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
Spring Flowing Will
 Soon Be In Evidence

TN Alabama spring blowing will U begin earlier than usual. The ground is yet too wet from the recent rains, but unless we have more rain within the next two weeks, March will find the land in good condition. Early cotton planting will be in order, It is one of the methods of getting ahead of the weeyil. With an early crop and intensive cultiva- tion, the cotton growers may have much better results than last year. Alabama's cotton acreage will probably be increased slightly, but the yield, if the growing season is favorable, will be considerably larger than that of 1919.
 Crop diversification pays better in the long run and an eight or nine million bale production of cotton and bumper food harvests will give us a banner year.
 When the farmer starts to blow for corn he should place his gauge high, surely as high as one hundred million bushels. to a1u |, we cannot control the profiteer?" ask the railroad workers. Certainly not It would be bad policy. But privately and not for publication, we. as Ameri- cans. don't seem able to do thine with him.
 Philadelphia artists say billboards are an insult to man and nature Still they occasionally do full justice to the human form divine. as exemplified in the female figure.
 * E *
 Foreign papers speak of the Presi- dent returning from his illness. Are they groping for the American slang phrase. Ito come back"S
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
- BOOKS OF 1919.

From Inc New York World.
 Inquiry as to the literary reactions of the American people in the year following the armistice runs against an after-effect of the recent strike of printers and pressmen. Book pro- duction in this country in 1919 as com psred with. that of 1918 actually fell off to the extent of s4s volumes. ae- cording to the compilations of the Publishers Weekly. The total number of books brough out for the year was S,5s4. In England in 1919 there were s.s22 volumes issued. against 7,71s in 1918.
 In view of the increased interest in spiritual matters created by the war it is worth while to note the curious coincidence by which. for each of the two years just passed. the number of books of religion printed in the United States is recorded as 695. different story is told in fiction. and increase of 116 volumes in this department-the new number is 904-showing the popu- lar mind in search of diversion. More seriously significant for 1919 was the offering of s4s books on sociology and economies. an increase of 125 over 1918.
 Books of history fell to SIP volumes in 1919, loss of 11o. And tins despite the inclusion of new soldiers tales of experience. Is it possible to assume that world which has exhausted it. self in making history has temporarily lost its desire to write it or read it?
 Poetry. the drama the arts. philoso- phy. amusements. all these suffered losses in the letters of 1913. So did the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
aCircuit Riders Wife"
 Visitor In Birmingham

TIT HE. recent announcement that 0 Mrs. Cirra Harris was visiting friends in Birmingham, should not be permitted to pass without paying tribute to the work and person ality of this gifted woman.
 When Mrs Harris book, "A Circuit Riders Wife" appeared serially in the Saturday Evening Post, it at tracted national attention and she immediately became famous, al- though she had been magazine con tributor for some years before she won her first great success. She be- gan writing for the Independent in 1899, and contributed the "Brasstown Valley" stories to the American Magazine, from 1905 to 1909 "A Circuit Riders Wife" was followed by "Eve's Second Husband," "The Recording Angel" "In Search of a Husband," "Co-C Citizens" war arti- cles in the Saturday Evening Post and "A Circuit Riders Widow"
 Mrs. Harris belongs to the bril- liant coterie of writers who have
 { conferred so much distinction on Georgia. Few novelists have her homely and at times mordant humor and her power to reveal the follies, particularly the hypocrisies, of small town characters. As the wife of a Methodist minister, Mrs. Harris had first-hand knowledge of the types she has drawn with such rare fidel- ity, and if she sometimes strips them bare and, figuratively speaking, leaves them naked before their Creator, she does full justice to their better traits,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
WORDS

From Today. Could l, without weak words that fret
 and grieve.. Fashion of singing airs and living
 light The invisible fabric that the swallows At sunset in their interlacing flight A sheer imperishable ecstacy To clothe your spirit in viewless sing
 ing fire, Then should I labor to my hearts
 desire, Nor fear to- wrong your spirits har- But have only words, words born in
 stress And travail for your spirits ioveli-
 ness, Yet may not my dark syllables in their
 flight Through other minds weave out of'
 song and light The fabric of my dream. that all men, Your spirits beauty through eternityr
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
Not Without Reason

T have friend who gave me con siderable amusement by telling me that he went out to the Birmingham Packing Company's plant yesterday and was shown all through by Jack Phillips" said Solon Jacobs. T asked him why he picked such a cold day. and his answer is what struck me as being funny, for he had it all reasoned out. It seems that one hot summer day one of his chums was shown through a refrigerating establishment and caught very severe cold and came near dying. attributing it to the sudden change of temperature. So said he. made up my mind that when took a look in it would be on day when the weather outside was as cold as on the inside. I was cold when I reached the plant. and as we went through the various cold storage rooms I felt no appreciable change in the temperature"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
CUNNING OF HERR NOSKE

From the New York Telegram.
 5N ALSE prophets who have been try jHl ing to represent Germany as a negligible factor in the world S affairs. or as a nation of chastened people wanting to be friends with erst- while enemies, or as country so crushed by defeat in war as to be be- yond power of future evil. are con founded by Herr Noske's statement of his position on the question of surren- dering the personages listed as war criminals by the allies.
 Evidence of chastened spirit is con- spicuously lacking in Herr Noske's statement. His tone is one of calm, confident defiance. He has been de- scribed as "Germany's strongest man." and therefore his words may be as- stunned to represent the views, not only of himself, but of the dominant fac tions in Germany as we'll
 Flat refusal to comply with the de- mand for the extradition of war crimi- nals is based by Herr Noske upon the assertion that such surrender is i'm possible" His argument to bear out the impossibi1ity of turning over the former Crown Prince. Won Tirpitz and others for punishment reveals state of mind on his part not unlike that of the Kaiser in the days before that mon arch realized that he had lost the war.
 All that his compatriots can be ac- cused of in the way of crime, accord ing to Herr Noske. is that they with stood for four years the combined as- saults of the armies and navies of the world" To ask for the surrender of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
Wants New Recipes

'Tn yours of February g. writes Mrs. R. H. Trammell. Sawyerville, Ala, to Frank Willis Barnett you wrote about Culinary Crinkles,' and if you had told where copies are sold you wouldn't be troubled with this inquiry. Would you mind telling me where I can obtain copy and it's price? The most used cook book have was gotten up by church ladies and the recipes are splendid. However, they are 'Yan- kee' recipes. am a Yankee and my husband a southern man, so I have combined the two cookings, and know am good cook, because am told so three times day. but like to get new recipes"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17

such men, he holds .is, a monstrosity| without parallel in the history of the| world"
 However, the main point of what Herr Noske said is not in his defiance, but in his adroit renewal of old tim e| German tactics to cause division of poll icy between the entente nations anal America.
 No other discernible purpose could have caused him to write the lines to| the effect that the entente owed it's triumph entirely to Americas assist ance.' Herr Noske doesn't love us any more than he loves France or Great Britain, but he would dearly love to SOW seeds of discord for the disruption of thes iplendid inspiring friendship that units America with France and Great Britain--a friendship that seeks common action not for itself alone. but for the good of all the world.
 This little trick will fail of Herr Noske's purpose. We know our friends and doubt of them doas not gnaw att oru hearts. More, we believe. they know and trust us Nevertheless, it appears, we must continue to be on guard against insidious, untriendlyl propa ganda.
 Also, it is well to keep in mind that Herr Noske. who speaks so disdainfully pf our allies, is the German minister of defense, a post which would be called upon to take charge of affairs if the allies took action by force to surrender the high and mighty lords of war sum moned to apepar at the bar of eivilixa fiop for trial
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
"HEAyENLY HOUsTON.

From the Mobile Register.
 It was suspected that if any city would get the booze prize it would be Houston. Tex; and now 1t Is reported that more liquor is dispensed there on doctors prescriptions than in all Texas besides. What an enormous dubious capacity, As s
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
EXTRA ITEM.

Are brunettes more expensive than blondesr
 That depends"
 ''on whatr"
 On whether or not the brunette is satisfied to remain brunette. All other things being equal if she aspires to become blonde there's the addi- tional expense of peroxide"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
ADRIF9r WITH THE TIMES
wHoLEsoME LEssoNs

WHOLESOME LESSONS Having any trouble in keeping youJ hands on the farm?" "Not since I started to givin' 'em J, movie show three times week. said MT cobbles.
 That entertains them I supposer "oh, yes. But my main object is to show 'em tn perns of city fife"
 CHILDHOOD. How long did it take you to win herr
 Twenty years"
 That's a long time to go a-court- ing"
 We started early. She made the first mud pie I ever ate"
 VAIN ENDEAvoR. Who is the Respondent looking per- son?"
 uE IOImcT pfOQTtStOI Ql a CdD4fBI. He says life holds nothing more for him."
 Why doesn't he establish him. self in Cuba?"
 Its too late now. He wasted ths savings of years trying to convince his patrons that the vaudeville hs save them while sober was just as good ss the performances they used to .ppasad wildly when three sheets in the wtnA .
 HARSH TERM Why did Jibway and Gadspur fan outr'
 'Gadspur says JTbway kept picking on his flivver"
 That's strange. Picking, you ssyf- "Yes, Jibway refused to call it any thing but chariot
 PAUL COOK
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
CHEER UP.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
 Sir Oliver Lodge thinks it will be -o'ooo.ooo years before the sun gets So cold that the earth is no longer habitahle. So cheer up-winter isn't going to last forever.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
TELLING THE rRurH

I'm not prepared to make speech. 9 said the gentleman who had just been called upon to say a few words at a banquet.
 Hes more truthful than he imag- ines murmured practical joker in the adjoining seat, as he deftly ex- tracted a roll of manuscript from the gentlemans pocket. COMMENTARY ON PRESENT PRICES
 T see where chauffeur found a handbag containing s1o,ooo in bills and returned it to the woman who left if in his car7
 That's great deal of money to be carrying around"
 "The lady didn't seem to think so. She remarked that she had just drawn it out of bank to buy few little things in the shops"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17

departments of children's reading. of| travel. of language. The literary out look of the year. as 1t may be judged from the statistical returns, took tn 6 direction of the practical and material Believers in world peace will regard most hopefully fall of nearly 75 per cent in books on military and naval science.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
A CALL FROM EARTH.

X CALL FROM EARTH. "Ouija! Ouijal Ouija" A voice in spirit land Was heard exclaiming loud enough To vex the heavenly band. Now, who's that shouting ouija'
 here?'
 Saint Peter did inquire, A spirit said. The late John Doe Is wanted on the wire"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
CAN'T SHE SWEAR OFFv' ALONE. From the Philadelphia Inquirer

Lucy Page Gaston says if she were President she would stop the use of tobacco. Isn't Lucys will sufficiently vigorous to take that step without the support of the electorate?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
INDUCING SENATORS ITO woRk

From the Wall Street Journal.
 Our best reform would be to pay United States senators on piecework hasis. with double pay for the repeal Of fool statutes.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
IN HOTEL LCBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE
Moving Islands


 When Dr. Gibson Reynolds, man oi unprecedented and unlimited means, came up from Montgomery to Birming- ham short time ago for brief visit in connection with his mineral invest ments, he was watching the water seepage from pressure in an excavation and after short ruminatiop spoke;
 There are islands on the South Carolina coast that are travelling out to sea. Just a moment-remember prohi- bition has been in effect for some time I am speaking seriously. Morris Is- land, at the mouth of Charleston har- Dor. has moved seaward nearly quar- ern independence.
 "Charleston is at the extreme west ern indentation of the American coast, on the curve between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and Cape Juniper. Florida. This gives rise and fall of tide at Charleston of about five feet in normal stages of the tide shift and about six or seven feet at full moon and new moon. These unusually high tides wash away the anterior shore of the islands, or that side of them near est the mainland, the bluffs at the hack of the islands crumbling through capillary attraction and leaving the marshes. that in some places are fif- teen miles wide. between the islands and the mainland. While this is go- ing on the constant wave action on the front beaches is pilIng up sand, for sand is washed ashore and left just the same way as the waves bring in sea shells. So the island, or many of them, are constantly being built up in front and washed away at the back, literally carrying them, though very slowly. out to sea
 The site of Battery Wagner, located on Morris Island in the war between the states. is now some ten feet under water. A survey of the old range lines for artillery fire. used during the war mentioned, will show that the battery site is now covered by the tides By the way, Battery Wagner was designed by President Jefferson Davis when he was federal Secretary of War, and is the model on which all coast defense works have been built to this day"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
Met Villa officer

O. L. Bum, secretary of the Birming- ham traffic bureau. returned yester- day from Laredo, Tex, where he wis tied his two brothers. and from which place he made several short excursions into Mexico.
 While at Laredo I met one of Villas officers, who, I was told, had stolen $e5,ooO and could not return to his own country" Mir. Bum said, in talk ing of his trip. He was a fine look ing fellow, large, handsome and intel ligent. and seemed to be very much interested in the United States. When failed to understand his Spanish he appeared to be very much surprised, evidently believing that Americans un- derstand and speak all languages. am told. however. that if we did un- derstand all of the known languages we still would not be able to under- stand Mexican Spanish, as it differs from the genuine Spanish about as much as mules brAying does from a kittens meowing."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
Meu,bcr of the Associated Pres-a

Happy are they that hear their de- fractions. and put them to mending.
 -MuchsAdo About Nothing.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
THE -HERALD' E. ". BARRETr. .............. Editor ]

Entered at the Birmingham, Alay postoffice as seeond-e1ass matter, un- der act of Congress- March s. 1879.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17

Remittances can be made at current rate of exchange. The Age-Herald VIII not be responsible for money sen' through the mails. Address
 THE AGE-HERA1D,
 Birmingham, Ala
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
suBsCRIPTIdN RATEs

No communication will be puoHsheSs without It's authors name Re1eIS manuscript will not be returned '.'. ul'tesS stamps are enclosed for that puFP"se-