davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12
# # H Keeping Public Advised of Progress of Road Work

@ LOW progress is being made on g the trunk highways ip Alabama for which bond issue of twenty-five million dollars was voted by the peo- pie by the largest majority ever given any public question in this state, but the backwardness of construction is due to no fault of the highway de- partment or the state engineer, w. s. Keller.
 The federal government will match the money the state appropriates, dol lar for dollar. The work is carefully supervised by the division United States engineer, and he and MT. Kel- Ter will cooperate in developing a perfect plan. This being done, the project will be submitted to the Sec etary of Agriculture and the highway department for their approval.
 Surveys and other details require much study on the part of the en- gineers, but the greatest handicap is the high cost of labor and material. When legislation was first under taken for the huge highway enter prise, prices were about normal. But since then they have scared. Says MT. Keller:
 By doing this engineering work the highway department is able to preserve to Alabama all of the fed eral funds appropriated Some ques- tion has been raised by those who are not familiar with the situation as to why we are doing so much engineering work when so few contracts can be let. It is suf- ficient to say that without such surveys Alabama will lose several million dollars.
 Not during the lifetime of most of us of this generation has every tilHS eHtSTlHS Into the necessities and comforts of life been so high. When the high cost of living is spoken of it does not mean solely the high cost of the food, clothing and shelter necessary to sustain life. but other things which have become necessities and which di- rectly or indirectly have a bearing on the supply of absolute necessi- ties. Good roads are not considered luxuries. but real necessities, be- ing Fundamental factors in the pro- duction and supply of food products and the raw material for clothing and shelter
 Road building materials have ad- vanced from 20 to 300 per cent, and exceedingly hard to get at any price Labor that was plentiful and efficient few years ago at from $1 to $1.50, now is receiving from $250 to $4 per day and is very ineffi- cient > What practically amounts to an embargo has been placed on open top cars for other than the trans portation of coal in all states east of the Mississippi river.
 comparison of the average cost of roads now and in 1916-17 is in- teresting if not depressing
 1s16-17 1920
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12
A Sure Remedy

"A good plan to stop reckless driv- ing" says John H. Taylor, "and one that been successfully tried out in several places, is to revoke the license of an automobile whose owner has been convicted of violation of the traf- fic laws for period varying with the nature of the offense.
 ''The term during which the of fender must dispense with lthe use of his car can be heightened with each successive violation. showing him that we mean business.
 "Sometimes,'' continued MT. Taylor, T stand near the viaduct and see some of Birmingham's most reputable citi- zens dash across at a breakneck speed. winding in and out among the traffic. The trouble is that no one wants the dust of another. There are 16,000 cars in Birmingham. and some of them must be ahead and some behind"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12
Little Money Spent on
 McAdoo's Campaign

If N this day when money is spent in S large sums on promoting the po- litical fortunes of candidates for high office, it is of interest to know that w. G. McAdoo, who came very near winning the presidential nomination at San Francisco, had wonderful record for keeping down expenses.
 The nomination was unsought; not only so, but the former Secretary of the Treasury protested consistently against the use of his name. It may be taken as a matter of fact that Mir. McAdoo spent not a dollar of his own money.
 Judge s. B. Amidon asserts that the campaign expenses totaled four hun dred and forty-three dollars; that and no more. This modest sum was contributed by the judge and a few other friends.
 No case like it was ever on record The day of lavish expenditures in politics is fast passing away. No me can buy an office and escape prose- cution. The law makes liberal all lowance for the presidency but even this expense is held down. But for a near winner four hundred and forty three dollars is little less than marvel ous. It will add new lustre to dis tinguished mans name.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12

The foregoing is q brief state
 ment of conditions confronting the
 state highway commission, but Is
 not by any means the greatest
 trouble it has to meet.
 The financial situation is
 stumbling block of no small pro-
 portions.
 Notwithstanding the obstacles now encountered, however, some tangible progress will be made during the next twelve months, and every little will help. The people have the satisfac- tion of knowing that the work is in competent hands. Few states have an engineer of such experience or wide vision as MT. Keller. His ad- vice is sought in many states. He il and is recognized as the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12

We are such stuff As dreams are made of and our Iitfle
 life Is rounded with sleep.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12
Member os the Associated Press

TELEPHONE beh tprfvate exchange cOnnectins all departments) Main 49ON
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12

The gallant men who are our guests
 from every state inc the union are worthy royal welcome. for they made imperishable history. It's not for any one of this Twentieth century to write the final word upon their heroic deeds but it is safe to prophecy that in ages to come whenever men and women read about their conduct in bat tie there will be tightening of heart the American boys who met the shock troops of the Kaiser and broke his proud army. They belong to the inn mortals, and Birmingham and Alabams is proud to honor them
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12

Some claim that we are yet too close to the revolutionary war to properly give it its proper focus in history; that certainly the civil war will have to wait another half century before jus tice can be done either to the north or the south; and surely it is too soon to even dimly outline the great tragedy which set the world in arms; but I'll stake my reputation as a historian on the fact that the Rainbow division has made for itself a place which will awaken enthusiasm in the hearts of red-blooded men and courageous wom- en as long as the annals of mankind are recorded.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12

kemittances can be mate at current rate of exchange. The Age-Herald will not be responsible for money sen. through the mails. Address
 THE AGE-HERALD,
 Birmins nam. Ala.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-12

No communication will be published without it's authors name. Rejected manuscript will not be returned unless stamps are enclosed for that purpose.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17
THE WALL STREET HORROR

A I THIS writing it seems best to hope
that yesterdays tragedy in New York
was accidental. There is evidence to indi-
cate that it belongs in the category of dis
asters traceable to a reckless habit with ex-
plosives which became general in the war
time rush and eliminated in the blow up OF
an ammunition ship in Halifax harbor and
the loss of 1900 lives. Any other conclu-
sion Is almost intoerable. 1t is difficult to
believe that any one would deliberately
commit an act so savagely cruel as has been
suggested by some Of the police. II the ex-
plosion was planned and premeditated then
it will Justify a governmental policy of un
precedented suppression and reprisals in
every quarter where there is even the shadow
Of a tendency to use dynamite as a means OF
political argument.
The exact cause of the disaster may not.
be known for days or weeks. IL it was acCi
dental, then one shocking fact will be re-
vealed as a basis from which a relentless
Investigation will have TO be pressed An
enormous quantity Of high explosive appears
to have been carted into the most thickly
cofgested spot in the United States. into one
Of the narrowest and busiest streets in the
world, between high buildings. there to en-
danger the lives not of hundreds of people,
but of thousands. There are state and mu
transport of explosives. They are disre-
garded every day. But no violation of the
ordinary rules of public safety such as is
apparent in the preSent instance was ever
before recorded in the United States.
The peculiar place which Wall street has
In the mythology of the radical world will
c3use great many people to view the ex
: Ylosion as n deliberate act of terrorism.
Such views should be accepted only after
{ they h6ve been sustained by plain evidence.
Those who still believe that there is some
thing inherently decent Sven in the worst of
men, and some sense of humanity and re-
straint even in the most desperate of crimi-
mails. will prefer to withhold judgment. The
time for patience and temperate dealing with
the more radical agitators will have passed
IL the explosion proves to have had other
than accidental causes. renewal Of es-
pionage might be bad thing for the coun-
try. But it would be worse thing for those
who make up the unatic fringe of the move
ment headed by Big Bill Haywood and his
satellites.
or the circumstances of the tragedy, the
panic, the fighting and the trampling that
followed the first terrible crash, it may be
raid only that such things were inevitable
der the circumstances. Modern cities with
---ie skyscraper habit are not organized to en-
dure such shocks calmly. An explosion in
narrow and crowded street can be more ter
riblc than anything known even on battle
neIdS. 1t is for that reason that the crime
that lies behind one of the saddest calamities
OF recent years is the more reprPhensiblc A
multitude of inoffensve people were mangled
or slain. Death came to them like a bolt out
OF tho blue in the midst of their days work.
The Authorities cannot have the hardihood
to say that they are unable to fix the blame.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17

At that juncture the citizens committee
reiterated its promise to buy the remainder
Of the bonds, with the condition that the
board promise to distribute a fiat bonus OF
$500. On this point action has not been
taken. Some members Of the board favor
the Stirring proposition. Others balk at
this limitation of their authority, for the
counter program involves the payment Of
a 500 bonus and an upward revision Of
the salary schedule on the Dick plan.
That the teachers shall not lose in either
event was assured yesterday when the
finance committee Of the board decided that
IL the outside help was rejected the use Of
the money from the insurance and building
funds, together with whatever sum is real
lied from the bond sale, will be sufficient
to furnish the temporary assistance. But as
the loan has up to this point been anything
but n success, 1t may reasonably be won
dered why the board did not adopt its latest
relief plan long ago. Granted that its path
Is not rosy it certainly cannot be said that
much practical graphing with the difficulties
was attempted until the emergency had be-
come painful and publicly acute.
The edge of victory, such as it is, has
been dulled by a quantity Of needless bick-
ering hedging and procrastination on sew
eral sides. 1t may be said, however, that
a beginning has been made. But the gain
is mere trife compared to the still neccs
sary redemption Of the school system as a
whole
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17
The Chemistry Of Il

Men Of the laboratory will not be the only
persons interested in the appearance of what
we believe to be new chemical compound.
II it is not new, at least it has never be-
fore been found in natural mixture.
The main constituent of this novelty Ia
carbon mon0xid, that unpleasant gas which
forms when the combustion of carbon with
oxygen Is incomplete. A faulty coal stove
will emit it, In the present discovery, how.
ever. it comes from the poor draft in
mental furnace that is stuffed with false
mathematics. The second ingredient il
xenon, n gas usually distilled from LIQUID
mir, but in the new d's:overy obtained from
the cold perspiraticn - gentleman who
tried to get away w.ss s'mething and failed,
The combination is = political gas full a.
hot air, suiphurous odor and malarinl
shivers,
As the chemical symbol Of carbon monoxid,
In co and that of xenon is Y, the symbol
Of the combined gases 10 easily arrived at
New York Sun.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17
NOW MY IDEA IS THIS!
Daily Talks With Thinking Phiadelphians Subjects They
KnoU Best

have manifested themselves, and the expert
ment has not had anything like fair trial.
1.-The worst feature, however. Of these
counsels of fear and half -heartedness' Is that
they are counsels of lawlessness. We see in
Ireland the distressful state ora land where
people have got into the habit of securing
changes in the law, not by argument, but by
lawlessness and anarchy. Celtic Ireland Ito
speak in general terms) will not obey the
will of Great Britain, because Ulster. or
Scotch Irish Ireland under the able lead
ership of Sir Edward Carson, proved that
the will of Great Britain would not be made
supreme IL the local opposition in Ulster
went to certain lengths--and Ulster took
this course of gun running, because 1t re-
garded the action of Great Britain as the
result Of previous successful lawlessness on
the part of Celtic ireland.
''Is our country to follow such dreadful
prcccdcnts?
eve hear far too often in the papers such
utterances as / read lately, that an execu-
tive did not intend to enforce certain laws
say certain Sunday laws-because he did
not believe the people wanted them en-
forced.
General Grant used to. say, The best
way to bring about the repeal of bad law
is to enforce it. Indeed, that Is the only
proper course for the executive.
Legislatures exist to amend, abolish and
enact laws. and 1t is the duty of sheriffs.
mayors, governors and President to enforce
them. .....
Now, 1t is inconceivable that the pr0hi-
bition amendment will be repealed-cer-
tainly not till the country has made a full
| and fair trial of its effects. Therefore. the
proper course for all public spirited citizens
is to call aloud, not for laxity, still less for
| alteration, which Is virtually out of the
| question, but to demand obedience to the
| law from all classes.
Certainly. this il the united voice of the
churches, which have almost all of them
| placed themselves on record as fayoring this
| great national experiment"
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17
Answers to Yesterdays Quiz

|. Therapy Is that part OF medical science
which treats OF the discovery and an
piication Of remedies for diseases.
2. The Banat Is district In southeast Hum
gary which was conquered by the
Turks In l565, liberated by Eugene OF
savoy IN l7l6, was governed by Ans
tria, later returned to Hungary he
came an Austrian crown land and wn =
nnally incorporated In Hungary In
1860 The word Banat originally mea nj
frontier province ruled by n "ban u
3. John Keats was the author of the celo.
brated poem, ode to n Grecian Urn +"
4. John Adams was the first President n,
the United States to live in Washing.
ton. He moved there during the In tier
part or his administration, having nre
vlously resided In his official capacitv
In Philadelphia. '"'''
b. The emu Is large Australian bird al
lied TO the cassowary, and Is natural IIv
two-egged animal
8. Nep0tism IL undue favor from, n bo,dor
OF patronage to his or her relativas
The word originally meant such favor
extended to nephews, from the Italian
'nepote.' nephew.
contents ''S
g. The tuba is the largest of the horns, II 10
orass valve instrument.
., The gladiolus, which has sword -sban mad
leaves and bright flower spikes takes
lts name from the Latin "giadius'" a
TO- "Ad hoe" literally meaning "to thisp IA
used IN the sense OF Arranged Tor this
purpose precise" -
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17
THE GOVERNOR SPEAKS

A y AUTHORITATIVE voice was needed
"A to dspef some of the confusion created
by those who seem eager to forget all plans
for Camden bridge for the remoter vision
of tunnel Governor Sproul has fitted ad- =
mirably into the emergency.
I'VE want a bridge" said the Governor
THE people who want a tube will find that
it takes long time to build tubes
II there must be as much preliminary talk
about a tunnel as there has been about n
bridge. no one now alive will ever get across
the Delaware by means other than ferry
boats and flying machines. The trouble
with the tunne! scheme ought to be apparcut
to everybody. One of the first results of the
new agitation would be divided interest and
a decline in the enthusiasm that now is
growing in favor of a bridge. The advantage
gained through years of work and agitation
by those who desire better means of COM
munication between this city and Soutb
Jersey would be wholly lost Later along II
it were shown that the cost of tube would
be stupendous, there would be a collapso ~
interest in tubes. BY that time the bridge
might be almost forgotten and we should
have to start all over again
Governor Sproul should keep in the fore
ground during the present conflict of pur
poses. The bridge project seems to need
some powerful friends.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17
QUAKERS AND THE LEAGUE

OPPOSITION by the international confer
~ ence of Friends In London to the League
of Nations in its present form, reported by
DR.. William I. Hull, Of Swarthmore, who
was a participant In the sessions of the con
ference. should be interesting to Philadel-
phia. The Quakers of this community have
been doing pgreat service In Europe. Their
consistent attitude Of compassion and for
bearance in time when most of the world
was filled with passion and hatred was a
reinsurance to every one who, even in the
years Of conflict: stopped to remember that
nothing violent can endure. 1t is for that
reason that words of denunciation coming
from the Friends in London have strange
sound. And it is only fair to suppose that
antagonism to the present plans for the
League of Nations expressed at the London
conference is reflective not so much of
Quaker sentiment generally but of liberal
opinion in England, where the inconsisten-
cies of France and other allied countries
have been sharply apparent and resented
with great bitterness.
France has been accused of desire to
boss the Continent, yet there is good ground
for the opposite belief that France, through
her activities in Poland and elsewhere, Is
merely acting for the time being in self
defense. But is France not to be more
greatly trusted than the German junkers?
Did modern France ever start invasions into
friendly countries? Were they not even un-
ready for the German onslaught? Are they
not to be trusted further than the desperate
and cruel minority that boasts in Russia of
a contempt for agreements made upon honor?
No one can deny that there are groups in
Europe who, II they are permitted to do so,
will use the power and the mechanisms of
a League of Nations for their own particular
purposes. But to take these groups too seri-
ously is to reckon without regard for the
restraining force of public opinion that is
now being asserted in new ways every
where.
Wise observers have ceased to be seri-
ously concerned about Russian bolshevism
or its futile imtators in Italy. They are
looking to the future when the defeated
masses in all countries. left PROSTATE by the
collapse of these new experiments in oppres-
sion. may be at the mercy of the strongest
adventurers. Who then will keep the peace
and protect human liberty and put check
on militarism and the forces that encourage
it? Will not the drifting nations drift natu-
rally into the alliances of their own. without
any of the restraints contemplated in the
Paris plan? The League of Nations as it
is now coming into being is not perfect
thing. But when you put il aside no way
seems open but the way to chaos.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17
A FIGUREHEAD RETIRES
GEORGES CLEMENCEAI, roror,

tNEoh"ES tIEMENCEAU renounces
any further presidential incIinations with
the characteristic remark that tiger hunting
IN Indian is less dangerous than French
politics" As general observation. tbis
may be, but the cx-premicr is exagpcratin,
when he intimateS that presidential elections
IN his country are exciting
The compromise between mild liberals and
mild conservatives, which is the foundation
of the third French republic. was reached
with the understanding that the ostensibe
head OF the nation was to exercise chiefly
decorative functions. The ornamental presi
dent furnishes, indeed, rather close parallel
OF an ornamental constitutional monarch. In
both eases the dominant power is in the
hands of the prime minister, whose rcspon- =
sibility to thabicameral legislative authority
Is constant and direct.
The prospective election of successor to
M. Deschanel has not, therefore, much more
than a theoretical interest. The Chamber
~ Deputies aud the Senate, meeting as one
body at Versailles, are to choose the new
president on September %. Unless al
precedent Is broken by the choice of ,
'Strong man, the current of French poll.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17
THE HAT

WBlo will say that the world isn't getting
along toward better days even if it has
TO progress through dust and blood and
noisef leSteday was the 18th of Septem-
Nfr' iand yet citizens who, moved by summer
/, determined TO wear their straw hats
:. the street, were not set upon and mobbed
Oy crowds of tn" sort that once adopted
methods of violence to show that tradition,
\ IKE the leases OF Strcet-car lines in this city
OF ours, is sacred and inviolablC. In small
way at least the right of self determination
has been recognized
The aShman will soon get all the old straw
mats Most men stick to the old things not
from any motive of economy, but because
they are conservative. 4 new hat is a dis.
eonccrting thing, 1t makes the average man
uncomfortable. Women, on the other hand,
are happy in new hats and unhaDpy in old
ones. That is truth. Whoever can got
the inner meaning out of it will be able to
toretell just what suffrage will do to and for
the United States
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17
THE MIRROR

TT YOU were in Russia, able to read the
l. printed lingo of the ROlsheyists. or in
Italy looking for news in journals dedicated
to the sort of radicaliSm which survives by
putting an ugly color on everything opposed
to it, you might feel like despairng for the
United States.
Headlines in the morning would inform
you that the chief Of the Democratic marty
had exposed plans of millionaircs to buy the
presidency. simultaneously you would be
told by the newspapers that Philadelpbia
was terrorizcd by motor bandits who an
peared every night in the streets to rob and
shoot and defy the police Whisky rings
would be shown rising in power to set inside
the laws of this land, even while coal min
ers were engaged in a campaign 70 freeze
the country to death.
The presidency cannot be bought and
millionaires are not trying to buy it. Whisky
rings operate in few eastern cOmmuni. .
ties. In some parts of the West their mem
bers would be tarred. Two-thirds Of the
country is dry by it's own volition. Motor
bandits are nuisance, and they are being
eliminated in this city and everywhere else.
The coal strike is settling itself.
The moral Of all this Is that incidents
that figure most conspicuously in one days
news do not always reveal the full truth
beneath the surface. Distance magni6es and
sometimes dstOrts a dramatic fact And
even a truth, when it is seen without the
conditions of a tempering environment, can
become something else to n hurried eve.
The world isn't nearly so badly of as sur .
face events sometimes make it appear.