davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
Birmingham Iron Sells
 When Any Is Bought

@ ALES or southern pig iron last | I0 week aggregated the largest tonnage sold by southern furnaces in several months and apparently the southern iron business was the largest done in the entire country.
 It should be encouraging to the Birmingham district to realize that Alabama ironmakers led in the first real pig iron buying that has been done lately. The iron market is still at low ebb. but it has been made evident that wherever there is iron buying this district comes in for its share.
 Alabama pig iron has gone through periods of depression many times and "Doubting Thomases" have arisen who have declared that an end had come to the pig iron business alone; that it's production without producers finishing mills to consume it would be without profit. Yet Alabama iron has again and again routed the pessimist and its fat years have continued to fol- low the lean ones.
 Years ago at the Birmingham meeting of the American Iron and Steel institute, J. D. Mcqueen, presi- dent of the Sloss- Sheffield Steel and Iron company, said:
 "We have seen the tide turn in our favor again and again. South ern foundry pig will not be the little pig that stayed at home,' but will go to market every day" That was in the fall of 1914. The Alabama "pig" has been to market many times since.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
Air Traffic Between
 Key West and Cuba

TN six months a company operat- J ing planes between Key West, Fla, and Havana, Cuba, made more than 160 flights at an average speed of 96 minutes for each flight of no miles.
 The company carries freight, mail and passengers between the two terminals. During that period of time it transported by air more than HOO passengers and approxi- mately 26,042 pounds of United States and Cuban mail. Machines accommodating Il passengers each were used.
 For short flights airplanes and seaplanes have passed the expert mental stage. They are taking their place as branch of transportation which combines both speed and safety. Thus far the element of speed is the chief advantage offered by air transportation, but in time airplanes should be able to carry a considerable volume of freight in direct competition with other com mon carriers.
 The company which makes daily flights between Key West and Ha- vana has other lines operated out of New York and along the eastern seaboard. The brisk passenger busi- ness done between Florida and Cuba, as well as other islands in that lati- tude, may or may not be due to prohibition in America, but the lure
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
Time to Plant
 the Fall Garden

1T HE long summer season per U mits the raising of second crop of many garden and field products. The home gardener has as much opportunity now to pre- pare for his fall table as he did this spring to arrange for his summer supply.
 The Age-Herald on Sunday pub lished list of garden stuff that may be planted now and will bear fruit before frost. Those who failed to read that list will be supplied with the information by calling on County Agent Brown at the Cham Der of Commerce.
 Such crops as sweet potatoes, tomatoes, squash, okra, water melons, onions and even corn may be planted now and will furnish the fall table.
 The home gardener should work in the early mornings and plant this stuff. The soil is in condition from the spring ploughine and spading and the labor of the second crop will be less than half that of the first.
 Garden truck begins to mount in price as the autumn approaches because there is less of the second than of the first crop. The wise owner of garden plot will make note of that.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
eAppIvlIaM aM1Aas.siI
TO AN INHABITANT or PARADIsE Scudder Middleton. in the July Yale

TO AN INHABITANT or PARADISE Scudder Middleton. in the July Yale
 Review.
 How goes 1t in your star-lit world The silences, the breeding wood? Does there the tiger hunt no more. The falcon twitter for his hood? Have you stripped all the boughs that
 talk
 And caim.d the torrents from tn.
 hill?
 Arc lamb and wolf now reconciled . Is hunger banished from your sill! Does that insxorabl whip, Which drove us needless face to face No longer burn along your vei;ls Or cut your new dis2assicnats grace: Do you watch struggle. uncnncernej Hear voices call yoI and not speak There in your timeless acres feel Above your kinship with ths weak? Oh. guard the gates that shut you in Make sure the world behind ycul eyes. My world cf ,-cn anl lest slad wheels Begins to march on Paradise.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02

of alcoholic stimulants that can be reached in abundance by short air flight is believed to be responsible for at least part of this patron age.
 The opportunity of flying from a comparative desert to an oasis in an hour or two is one that appeals to Americans with money-and a thirst.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
Absurd Attitude
 of Senator Rorah

1T0HE Senate is to be congratu- U lated for attaching no weight to the objection raised by Senator Borah to the confirmation of for mer President Taft as chief justice of the supreme court of the United States. The objection was puerile and unworthy of consideration.
 Borah's attitude was thus ex- pressed:
 Having taken an able lawyer
 from the supreme court bench
 four years ago ,referrin gto Sec
 retary Hughes) and made politi-
 clan of him, it is now proposed
 to take politician--a man
 who has devoted practically his
 mature life to politics--and put
 him on the supreme bench in the
 interest of politicians.
 If MT. Borah's reasoning were followed out no man aspiring to a place on the supreme court bench should take a hand in the important affairs of the nation. To his mind that disqualifies him from passing cn them judicially if brought to his attention. His philosophy is that cf man, because he is in public life in other ways, thereby renders himself unfit for the ermine. In his catechism there is no such thing as statesmanship. He belittles his own career.
 Secretary Hughes is better sec retary for having been a lawyer, judge, prosecuting attorney and a conspicuous figure in the political affairs of the nation. Taft should mako a better judge for having been . Secretary of War, President and concerned in the big business questions involving the country na- tionally and internationally.
 A man will not lose legal acu- men nor sense of judicial equili- brium by having mixed in the prac- tical affairs of his country. Mere bigwig learning is not all that a judge, should possess. The best judges are they who know men as we'll as books.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
Carelessness Adds
 to Cost of Shipping

T77HE money paid out by rail-
 l roads for loss and damage in transit is big drain on their re- sources. In the end it is a loss to the public, because what the rail roads lose in one direction they must make up in another.
 In circular letter issued by the Illinois Central system and pub lished as an advertisement in The Age-Herald, it is shown that the amount paid out for loss and dam age in transit by the Class rail roads grew from $2a, ,O00,O ,OO0 in 1916 to $104, ,Oo0, ,00O in 1920 and that the Illinois Central alone, which paid out $655, ,000 in 1916, had to stand . bill of $2,745,0O0 in 1920. That is ! heavy toll to pay for carelessness. 
 That it is due to carelessness ad- mits of no doubt. Faulty contain CTS and negligent packing are chief ly responsible.
 The Illinois Central requests those who ship by carloads to in- sist on being provided with cars suitable for the particular kind of freight which they move and to properly brace the contents of the car. Shippers of less than carload lots are asked to pay more atten- tien to their containers, to see that they are plainly marked and to de-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Tn. "Pur-u,t of Happins.a',
, the Editor of Tho Age-Hsraid

10 tnc Edltor or rho ABe-1etaiu'
 Among the inaiienable rights guar anteed to us by the constitution are. life, liberty and the pursuit of hap piness. It Is nowhere guaranteed or hinted in that document that we shall ever catch up with or possess hap piness. We should be glad, however, that we are given the unlimited and untrammeled right to pursue her, for, as hope springs eternal in the hu- man breast" we can hope on. hope ever, that some day we may outstrip and overtake her.
 But, one thing appears certain: To be able to engage in the pursuit of happiness with any reasonable hope of success, we must not only be the possessor of life, but must also have the full measure of liberty, for, if we are in anywise burdened and shack eled, we cannot hope to catch a glimpse of her, for in this matter, it Is plain the race must be to the swift, as the battle is to the strong.
 The lockers on say (and they often see more than they who play the game) that we have burdensome laws; that everything we now have Is taxed, except our civic pride, and that's in danger. We are taxed on our property, real, personal, mixed and intangible, by state, county and city governments-and if we die and leave any, there is a tax on the in- heritance. We are also taxed on our income and our outgo, and on our excess profits, whatever that may mean
 If we have no property we are taxed anyhow; we must pay a license to marry. and fee the preacher. too; we must pay a licenss to run an au- tomobile-also Ford-we can't hunt without a license, we can't fish without license, we can't do busi- ness without license, we can't even own a dog without license.
 We have laws for the "conserva- ton of shrimp" which now make it dangerous to catch even crawfish; we can't kill a woodpeckeT, a joree or robin without violating state and national laws; we can't buy any thing for the collie without first fec ing doctor, and then paying double for the prescriptions; we can't take a little wine for the stomachs sake" without trespassing on man made WIS, or running the risk of getting dose which will give us our final quietus. Under the blue laws you may be arrested for kissing your wife on Sunday, and under the blue rky laws you may be put in the peniten- tiary for selling share of stock. The punishment of tobacco is also under al ssusNion.
 We ara hedstd about with myriads of lava .nauy of wh'cr should not be on the books and myriads of paid spies and informers-many strangers with whose election or appoint ment we have nothing to do. Tho right of local aslf- government seems gradually passing from us.
 How. then. are we. thus burdened, shackeled, harrassed and deprived of our liberty (although left alive) to engage with any fair hope of success in the pursuit of happiness-that H. lusive shadof, which, like the mirage of the desert, as we approach. thus burdened, passes and disappears? Yours very truly,
 R. L. WILLIAMS. Birmingham, July 1, 1921.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
My dear. try soap and water" :"

Inquired Eye's lovely daughter. We looked dismay, but wished to say,
 My dear, try soap and water"
 THE SAME OLD ROUTINE
 Now that your boy Is out of col lege, is he helping you on the farm?" Not enough to notice" said MT. Cobbles. He's given the old home place fancy name he found in book, and Invites his college friends out to spend what he calls week ends, but me and the hired men are keeping the same hours we always did"
 THE WAY PEDESTRIANS FEEL
 At any rate, that motorist turned his car around and came back to apologize"
 "so he did" said the pedestrian, but you noticed that didn't take
 
 How was that?"
 T gogt behind a firepiug so he couldn't hit me if he was coming back to run over me again"
 MIGHT HAVE DONE HER GOOD
 Your honor, 1t took three police men to arrest the prisoner"
 Was as belligerent as all that?" asked the diminutive citizen who had imbibed too much hooch the night before. You certainly were" "Well! welll And just think! My wife wasn't there to see me-" NOT EVEN COAL speak of Henry Mellar,
 Who win not object, l trust. There's nothing in his cellar But some cobwebs and some dust. SOFT ASPHALT An optimist is Ezra Trott,
 Who laughs at grief's enslavement. He won't concede that it is hot.
 Though his feet stick to the pave
 ment.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
LIfe's Rude Surprises

'on the Friday before his recent death, l played a game of billiards with the late Peter Bostick, the con tractor" said Marc .Linx. He was in perfect health The next day | left for Cincinnati on a combined business and pleasure trip. On Tues day l received letter notifying me of his sudden illness and death from blood poison.
 '1 do not recollect beips so shocked before in my life. It is almost inn possible for me yet to realize the taking away of this strong and healthy young man in such a short time"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02

liver them at freight offices be- fore the rush hour.
 Another suggestion is that receiv- CTS of goods notify their consignors when they are faulty.
 Much loss and a great deal of criticism can be avoided by observ- ing these rules.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
sTEvENsON's sTYLE
From the Indianaolis Star.

From the Indianaplis Star.
 Robert Louis Stevenson. | delight ful taAker $ we'll As writer of higt. distinction, oncs credited his verbal ability in part to the devotion with which he read and studied cer- tain authors. Haxlftt, Lamb. Words- worth. Sir Thomas Browne, Defoe, Hawthorne. Montaigne, Beap9elaire and obermann wvse rnose he named.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
MUCH NEEDED

Arthur H. Folweil, in Leslie's.
 Monkey glands having rejuvenated aged men, COW glands ire now in- creasing the neigh. of stunted girls. Next, camel glands, 50 that the man. abort-town may go 70 days or so without feeling the need of drink.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
ErreuErrr FOR THE VISITOR

From the Atchison Globe.
 If you are company in house, and the tablecloth with spot on it is placed on the able .. second time. take the hint--it's time for you to 60 homo.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
DO YOU KNOW

About the year 1880 the present stand of forest timber will be ex- bausted and thereafter period of from 50 to.1, 1000 years of timber fam inc will elapse before the trees now being planted come to bearing,
 Under certain conditions fish meal. used as fertilizer, is a violent ex- plosive.
 Austria may soon be able to re- sume her former production of porce- lain, due to the discovery of exten- sive beds of fine white kaolin within her boundaries. Although Austria made large quantities of porcelain before the war, the kaolin from which it was made came from Ger many.
 The metamorphosis of tadpole into frog can be brought about at any age by feeding it with thyroid gland from any animal Very young tadpoles have thus been turned into frogs as small as houseflise.
 A tadpole deprived of it's thyroid gland does not become . frog at all unless it is fed on thyroid.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
INEFF1cAcY OF PRAYER

1~sHA 1S<ASA OP MA I 1<AN Deacon Frisber is a hard man to deal with on week days, but he prays as loud as anybody on Sunday" Yes" said Squire witherbee. For 20 years I've been hearin' the deacon ask the Lord to make him a better man. but I'm afraid the Lord ain't maxim much progress" PROBABLY THE LATTER Ut may be a case of art for arts sake or business Is business' "Yes%
 T see where a movie star who was divorced from her husband while they were acting In the same photo play announces that they will com plete the film"
 TOUGH
 Life brings it's care
 To age and youth,
 But worst to bear
 Is an aching tooth.
 Detroit Free Press. Lfes filled with care
 From early morn,
 But worst to bear
 Is a tender corn.
 Canton Daily Star. Life has it's trials,
 But in all its strife
 Nothing so rifles
 AS scolding wife.
 Cincinnati Enquirer. Life has it's ills
 The worst, I'll say
 Is flock of bills
 You cannot pay.
 VENUS SUBMERGED What do you call that picture?' asked the recent millionaire. "'venus Rising From the Sea-" said the art dealer. "Umph! I wouldn't dare to put that in my house. Have you pie ture of Venus before she gets so fac out of the seas, with the water about up to her neck?"
 PATH. COOK
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
Vulcan the Obscure Who
 Has Missed His Destiny

# T x
 Vulcan the Obscure Who
 Has Missed His Destiny E ROM time to time somebody U writes 'letter to the editor" suggesting that Vulcan, Birming- hams famous "Iron Man." be placed on Red mountain to advertise the city. The question is discussed for a day or two in the public prints and is dropped. So far, nothing tangible has been done.
 Poor old Vulcan, fallen from his high estate, though still erect, is pathetic figure. Except for brief intervals when the State Fair is be- ing held or some other event draws people to the fairgrounds, he is isolated, neglected and forgotten. If Vulcan could think, his rever- ies would be tinged with sadness. He would lament his present for tunes and sigh for an opportunity to advertise Birmingham, as his creators intended. As it is, he is mute, inglorious and unsung. Since his return from the St. Louis ex- position he has been regarded more as z:. incubus than anything else. Red mountain is the place for Vulcan. He could be transported there, set up and illuminated at night at comparatively small ex- pense. There through the years he would stand guard over Birming- ham, symbol of its progress and unique colossus whose fame would be carried far and wide by tourists.
 # # *
 Toledo man wrote to Chicago police asking them to look for his wife who has bird and rose tat tooed just below her right knee and wears rolled stockings. Chicago be- n yxyi fru 1,n,r l. able to find her.
 < H #
 It used to be the custom about this time of year for the chairman of the Fourth of July entertainment com mittee to protest that he'd placed an order for enough beer to float a bat tleship.
 If new homes continue to go up in Birmingham at the present rate, snapoing ones fingers under land lords nose may soon become a popu- lar pastime.
 A 17-year- boy has been ar rested for swindling oil men out of = sum estimated at s25O,ooO. As he is young and evidently ambitious. he may be heard from again.
 * * * A red-headed wild man, eight feet tall. is reported to be at large in Nebraska, where the alcoholic content of home-brew must run considerably above one-half of one per cent.
 * * *
 In case the fight this afternoon should prove fiasco, we suggest a three round bout between Rirg Lard ner and old Irv. Cobb for the Corona championship.
 x * <
 Sam Blythe thinks the fact that President Hard Ing wears l01a shoes keeps him from being swept off his feet. Somehow it doesn't inn prove his game of golf.
 E % '
 While the major event is taking place at Jersey City today. there won't be enough business transacted in this country to keep one tired of- flee boy busy.
 Cabaret performers are said to be working for $15 week and cakes in New York. Prohibitions victims are not limited to people with chronic thirst.
 Many . malefactor gets soft job in a prison library, while his victims have to slave IA hours day to make both ends meet.
 Mir. Taft says the ambition of his life has been realized. In that case he can afford to ignore the mean re- marks made by Senator Borah.
 z z q
 What with the cross-examining of lawyers and Mrs. Stillman's cool
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
NIAGARA TRAVELLING BACKWARD Flosd w. Parsons in the Worlds

IuVu W. df SOHS, III tHc VVItU .
 Work for July.
 Niagara's total practical energy equivalent is in excess of 5000, 900 horsepower. This stream of energy Is kept constantly renewed by the ac- ton of the laws of nature, and it finds expression through the medium of noise. The falling water at Mag ara presents a grand spectacle which is viewed each year by less than per cent of the population of the country. But this spectacle. though grand, Is a travelling show. for the falls have receded s55 feet since the first survey was made in l7s4.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
Fare Fall off

People have not been riding the street cars as much as usual these days said r. w. Winburn. Re gently I have had occasion to ride several of the suburban cars and dur ing the day they are carrying very small loads.
 Usually when l hAG ridden on them they were crowded, no matter what time of day the trip was made, but 1t is not so now. Being unable to account for 1t I asked the conduc- tor and he told me so many people were out of employment they didn't have the money to ride on. In fact, he said there is never a day that several people don't get on the car without any money and often other passengers paid their fare for them and when they didn't he had to put them off"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE
No Place to Park

picked up a friend the other morning coming in from Forest park, where I am building" says pr. sam uel F. Majors, and when we were nearing the business district he aske l me where l usually parked, and I told him that 1 began looking for q place when l crossed the Twenty second street bridge, but sometime 5 failed to find one until I had gotten as far as the Tutwler.
 Tt is really becoming a serious question for automobile users to find a place to leave their car anywhere near their place of business"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
Down in Texas

 date" said G. B. McGavock, but so is Texas. I have just returned from Dallas They are erecting several handsome structures there. l passed through Houston and San Antonio. In both of these cities the late George Stowers, who once did furniture business in Birmingham, has left two wonderful monuments to his business ability. The immense furni- ture stores in these cities bearing his name are literally merchant pal aces.
 Incidentally, it is hot down Tn southern Texas and, warm as It IS here, I feel cool in comparison with Dallas and San Antonio"
 They Hesitate
 Its strange the hesltancy which the average person has for filling III government blanks" said V. E. Gates. head of the narcotic division of the internal revenue department q am surprised at the number or doctors and druggists who come to my office to get me to fill their mar cotic registration cards.
 Each blank explains exactly how it is to be filled in, but simply be- cause it is government paper they seem to think that it is complicated and will not undertake to give the required information without ad- vice. Really there is nothing dlffi- cult about government blanks, but most people seem to think so."
 One Thing Puzzles Him
 "The story in The Age Herald th's morning about the boy near Athens who was bitten by copper-h heac snake, and his life saved by a glass of corn whisky from gallon Jus his father had found In the woods three years ago, is all right with just one exception" said Tom Baine.
 T can understand how the liquor saved the youths life, for it's mighty good for snake bite and lot of other things. hut to save me, l am unable to comprehend how the father man aged to keep the gallon on haho for that length of time"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02
ADRIF'T WITH THE TIMES

THERE'S NOTHING BETTER Whats good for the complexion?" Inquired Eyes lovely daughter. We looked dismay, but wished to
 say,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02

A MORNING PRAYER
 In my darkness send me thy lighty in my doubt teach me thy truth, and let them lead me through darkness and doubt to thee. Amcn.--M. Sc II.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02

It used to be the custom about this time of year for the chairman of the Fourth of July entertainment com mittee to protest that he'd placed an order for enough beer to float bat tleship.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-02

If new homes continue to go up in Birmingham at the present rate, snapoing ones fingers under a land lords nose may soon become popu- lar pastime.